Father's Day Fun

Happy Father's Day!

We kept it low key this year for Father's Day. We all needed a fun family day IN for once instead of running all over the place. I made my hubby and my dad these lawn mower cupcakes, I found the idea from an e-mail newsletter I get, they are colorful and cute!
Me and my daughter also did a Father's Day craft together on Friday for a surprise. I cut out the tie shapes and helped my little one with the letters and she decorated them with markers and star shaped foam pieces. We appropriately attached the ties to the string with colored duct tape. Then we hung it from the fireplace mantel to show it off. It stayed up ALL weekend!
This was my daughter's gift to her Papa Smith. We took photos of her holding the letters and turned them black and white and added to a fame. Pretty simple, if you subtract the fact that I am not a patient person when it comes to computers so printing wasn't the easiest thing when the printer is giving you grief. But it turn out beautifully!

We had a bunch of left over cupcakes that needed decorating - a great opportunity for Father/Daughter time. They had a good time and Alyssa probably ate more of the decorations then she put on the actual cupcakes (see the puffy cheeks).

Hope everyone's Father's Day was filled with great memories and fun times!

Target 6/20

I don't know how my receipts just simply disapear the instant it hits my hand/purse after I leave a store, but it seems to be happening too often lately. I will do my best to break down my target trip today from memory. Here goes!

3x Cereal (FREE Simply Orange Juice Deal)
-3x $1.00 coupons

2x Archer Farms Chips (FREE Salsa Deal)
-$1 target coupon

2x Velveeta Shells and Cheese
-$1.50/2 coupon

2x Velveeta single serve cups
-$1/2 coupon

Heinz Ketchup
-FREE with coupon

2x Oscar Myer Hotdogs
-1x Free with coupon
-$1/2 coupon

Nexcare Bandaids: $.99
-$1.00 coupon

Cascade Rinse Agent
-FREE with coupon

Total OOP: $14.20
Total Saved: $35.xx

Time for Mom

I'm pretty lucky that I can still get a daily 2 hour nap out of my 3 year old. Today I took that two hours and gave myself some home spa time because I've gotten lots of free or nearly free items I hadn't had the chance to try out yet. Plus every mom deserves some time to herself right? FOR SURE!

First, I got Veet from this past double coupon event at K-Mart for less then $1.50. Loved it! Easy, takes a little time, but if it lasts about a week I think it's worth the extra time.

Also used my FREE Vitamin Shampoo in the shower, along with Free Softsoap body wash, coconut exfoliater. Also I got a free tube of face exfoliater with a bottle of face wash which was fabulous. Didn't have to shave because of the Veet! Yay!


I used awesome Aveeno lotion which I got at the KMart doubles for cheap. Used my ped egg I got for Christmas. Used a free sample of Garnier Ultra Lift Pro facial moisturizer and a free sample of Sarah Jessica Parker's Twilight scent.

Next my mani/pedi. Hot pink toes and a french manicure. All things I had on hand.

And what good spa experience doesn't come complete with a little Chocolate!?

So pamper yourself! It doesn't have to be at a fancy spa. Save your money! I feel like a brand new woman!

Orajel Mail In Rebate

I love getting checks in the mail! Another MIR for Orajel - $8.00.

Year to date MIR received: $54.91

Walgreens Trip 6/14

Just had to make a quick stop at Walgreens this past Sunday. Here's a quick break down:

2x Hefty Zipper Bags: BOGO $3.29
-2x$1.00 coupons

2x Oreo Cakesters: 2/$5
-2x$1.00 coupons
Free after RR ($3RR)

Right Guard Deoderant: $.99 (ad coupon)
-$1.00 coupon
Free

St. Ives Body Wash: $2.99
Free after RR ($3RR)

Used:$2 RR
Total OOP: $5.50
Earned: $6.00 RR

Total Saved: around $14.xx

Summer Reading

We are so exited about this FREE summer "distraction" - the Summer Reading Program at our local library. My daughter is just old enough to join in! We love to read books together and the bed time story is a MUST in our house. Not to mention she begs to go to the library (we've deemed Tuesday as our "library day").

We have a goal to read 15 minutes each day to reach our goal of 700 minutes in 10 weeks. We log our books/authors and amount of time we read each day and report back to the library each week to track our progress. They are also having special speakers and story time. At the end of the 10 weeks they are passing out awards and prizes at the PTO Open House. That in itself will be a lot of fun since my daughter will be just starting pre-school this fall and she will hopefully get to socialize with her little class mates and teachers who participate.

Look into your local library to see if they are having summer activities for your kids!

Dance Class

And it begins... Dance Class for my 3 year old. The first week was rough, but she is only three and we will have to give this some time. I enrolled her at the local YMCA, and although it was a rough experience (let's just say too many cooks in the kitchen there), I hope my little one will get something out of the experience.

The great thing about the YMCA is that they offer much more then just dance. We will let her have the choice of staying with dance or trying tumbling, possibly a swimming lessons class for the second part of the summer. However I did make her a pink tutu complete with the leotard and "ballerina shoes" as my daughter calls them.

K-Mart Double Coupons 6/7

Yay for Super Doubles again!!! It is so much fun to get so many great deals!! Here's what all I got today:

Transaction #1:

Axe Body Wash: $4.25
-$1.50 (doubled to $3)
OOP: $1.25

Max Factor Mascara: $5.49
-$2 coupon (doubled to $4)
OOP: $1.49

Veet Gel: $5.49
-$2 coupon (doubled to $4)
OOP: $1.49

Ponds Towelettes: $2.87
-$1 coupon (doubled to $2)
OOP: $.87

Right Guard Deodorant: $2.00
-$1.oo coupon (doubled to $2)
OOP: $0

Got 2Be Mousse: $4.50
-$2 IP (doubled to $4)
OOP: $.50

Got 2Be Hair Spray: $4.50
-$2 IP (doubled to $4)
OOP $.50

Axe Shampoo: $4.99
-$2.00 IP (doubled to $4)
OOP: $.99

Aveeno Baby Lotion: $4.99
-$2 IP (doubled to $4)
OOP: $.99

J&J Safety Swabs: $1.59
-$1 coupon (double to $1.59)
OOP: $0

Sunday Newspaper: $1.50

Total OOP: $13.64
Total Saved: $33.17

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Transaction #2:

J&J Safety Swabs: $1.59
-$1 coupon (double to $1.59)
OOP: $0

2x Easy Mac n' Cheese: $1.09 each ($2.18 total)
-$1.00/2 IP (double to $2)
OOP: $.18

Kraft Dressing: $3.29
-$1.50 coupon (double to $3)
OOP: $.29

2x Ragu Sauce: $1.99 each ($3.98 total)
-2x $.60 coupon (double to $1.20 each)
OOP: 2 for $1.58

2x Coffee Mate Creamers: $2.29 each ($4.58 total)
-2x $1.00 IP's (double to $2 each)
OOP: 2 for $.58

A1 Sauce: $4.49
-$2.00 coupon (double to $4)
OOP: $.49

Cherry 7up: $3.67
-$1.00 coupon (double to $2)
OOP: $1.67

Capri Sun: $2.99
-$1.00 coupon (double to $2)
OOP: $.99

Total OOP: $7.56
Total Saved: $23.01

Total OOP for BOTH trasactions: $21.20

Total Savings: $56.18

You can find all these deals/coupon match ups at:
It's Hip 2 Save

Getting rid of the B-I-N-K-Y

Yes, it's a very hard thing to admit that my 3 year old is just now officially done with the binky...
She's used to only napping and going to bed at night with her binky, it wasn't something that she had all day or all the time, but does this have to be so hard for the little kid and for the parents?? I'm sure she feels like a security item has been taken from her and I feel like it's the last little tiny item that takes the last of her "babyness" away from her.
I guess it's like everything else, we will all get through it. She slept fine without it last night and this morning we made it a fun thing to throw the 2 binkies she's had into the trash can. We rewarded her with giving her 3 pompoms (read more about that here) for her reward jar (1 for sleeping without it and 1 for each binky she threw away).
We've tackled the big girl bed, potty training, and now the binky... oh dear what could be next... or should I even ask...

Keeping Coupons Organized While Shopping

If you are a couponer you know that couponing is time consuming, confusing sometimes, and the key is to staying organized!!
Our K-mart is doubling coupons tomorrow and since I was preparing I thought I'd share my system of preparation and how I stay organized while I'm actually in the store shopping.

First I start by browsing the web for all the best deals for the week and I jot them down in a regular notebook, along with the coupons I'll need for each item and the date of the insert the coupons will be in. After I've gathered my coupons I compress all the info into a smaller more organized notebook. This way I know exactly 1)Coupon value 2)Product name 3)Regular price of each item (a lot of times this price varies in different areas and websites give just a round about price and this could alter your overall savings) 4)Total Out Of Pocket (OOP) expense I'll end up paying for the item after my coupon


I have been keeping the bank envelopes to organize my coupons for when I'm out in the stores (they seem to be the perfect size and give easy access to thumbing through coupons). I either use them to organize by store or by department in a single store. (With K-Mart doubling this week, I'll be using these two envelopes to organize by department - Food & Personal Care Items - you'll need more envelopes if you are shopping at more stores or in more departments)

And lastly, when I'm shopping I don't want to be caring around my giant coupon binder or file system - I always bring this small "Five Star" pencil case. This one works great for me, it has 2 side pockets (to the left). I put my shopping list and the coupons I bring with me in the back pocket (in their separate envelopes shown above) and then as I put items into my cart I take the coupons out and put them in the front pocket so I have them all ready to go when I get to the checkout. Also I love the top pocket, it fits my calculator perfectly. When you have a child shopping with you or the store is a little crazy with people my brain tends to not want to function, or should I say, it forgets how to do math. It's handy to have. I also throw in a couple of pens for crossing off my shopping list or for making notes.

Thanks checking out my organization tips and hope they work for some of you too!

Week One of Summer Fun

Summer is (unofficially) here!! In between outdoor activities we have been having fun doing summer projects and learning about sea creatures and the ocean this week. We made a jellyfish, dolphin display (jumping dolphin project has been MIA for a few days), but the biggest hit was the "My Ocean Treasures" project. You can find more info here, which is where I found the directions to all the projects.
Since we live in the midwest and no where near a beach or ocean we did a mock seashell hunt. I printed out the seashells pictured here and hid them in the back yard for my three year old to hunt. She had too much fun! I hid them 3 different times and then grandma had to twice more later that day.
It's nice to get outside and incorporate indoor projects with the outdoors.

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Another project we did this week was a "reward jar" for our little one. I happened across another blog that incorporated this idea for her 3 children and thought it was worth a shot (sorry, can't remember the blog!!). Each time she does something good, or we feel she is being helpful, or even just is behaving well we give her a "pompom" to put into her jar. Once it's filled we told her we would get her a "speical treat", which will be whatever seems to be appropriate at that time. So far she has 4 pompoms and seems to be understanding the concept pretty well!
I got the jar from Wal-Mart ($1.98) and the pompoms as well (less then $2). We decorated it together with foam sticks and ribbon we had laying around the house.

Get ready for the 4th of July!

Make sure your little girl is decked out in RED, WHITE, and BLUE for this fast approaching Independence Day! My online store offers lots of adorable accessories for little girls including: hair clips, hairbows, tutus, and LOTS MORE!

www.CrossinMyHeart.com

MIR: Vitamin Shampoo

Walgreens had Vitamin Shampoo and Conditioner BOGO Free a couple months back and I had a "Try Me Free" mail in rebate and I finally got my $6.99 in the mail!!

Year to Date MIR: $46.91

WFMW - "Mom, I'm Bored" Summer Edition

My three year old doesn't officially know the word "bored" yet, but I'm sure it will come soon enough. This is the last summer we will have "together" before she starts pre-school in the fall. I have been on the lookout of fun things for her to do this summer. This past week I enrolled her in a ballet & tap class at the local YMCA (birthday gift from her grandma and papa). Other then that, lots of playing outside in the sprinkler and pool as well as crafts and projects will fill our days this summer. Let's hope none of us get too bored!

Target 6/1

6x Joint Juice: $.99 each
-6x $1.00 coupons

A1 Steak Sauce: $2.99
-$2.00 coupon

Kraft BBQ Sauce: $1.52
-$1.00 coupon

Musselmans Apple Sauce: $1.69

Axe bodywash/deodorant/ scrubber Set: $6.99
-$1.00 coupon

Skintimate Shave Gel: $2.24
-$1.00 Target coupon'
-$.75 coupon

Johnson & Johnson First Aid Kit: $.99
-$1.00 coupon

3x ($1 bin) Ribbons = $3.00

Total OOP: $13.15
Total Saved: $23.18

CVS 6/1

2x Maxwell House Coffee: $4.89 BOGO Free
-$2/2 IP coupon

2x Hawaiian Tropics: 1- $8.49 , 1- $9.99
-2x $2.00 coupons
*Thought they were both $8.49 each

Used: $12.98 ECB's
Total OOP: $4.80 ($3.41 on a money card & $1.39 cash)
Earned: $10 ECB's for Hawaiian Tropics deals

Total Saved: $23.87
**TOTAL SAVINGS 80%**

Walgreens 5/31

Ectorin: $2.00
-$2.00 IP

2x Frosted Mini Wheats: $2.50 each
- $2.50 - BOGO Free coupon (Vocal Point)

2x Dentek Flossers: $2.99 BOGO Free
-2x $1.00 coupons

Total OOP: 3.75
Received: $2.00 RR for Ecotrin

Total Saved: $12.98
**TOTAL SAVINGS 71%**