Another Monday list

Good morning everyone.  Sorry for no posts last week but I helped my daughter 3 days and took a little relaxing time on days our home was empty.  I also spent a good deal of time organizing and listing the freezer contents, making a shopping list and doing a huge shopping trip to our favorite commissary.  

This week, we have company all week so my standard to do list is much shorter. I will just keep up with house cleaning as it needs done and I have time to do it. 

To answer a few comments from last week

Lilac Dreams Tracey - I stopped doing Swagbucks a couple months back, I may start back in the future but not now.  

Vickie - I kind of have a love-hate relationship with THM desserts.  My favorite is the no bake chocolate version cookies that I think originated with Sheri Graham.  I made a double batch of them, using half oats and half coconut.  I keep them in the fridge and they always taste good to me.  

I did get some the new THM baking blend and I made a half recipe of a shortbread cookie but I didn't like them one bit.  In fact, I threw them away.  

I want to try the cowboy cookies in Mrs. Criddles site and hope to do them tomorrow. http://mrscriddleskitchen.com/cowboy-cookies/

 I'll let you know!

Have a good week everyone!  

Monday list

Good morning everyone.  

This week's list seems shorter and I am probably forgetting something but I'll do what I can and then add things if needed.  

Instead of rubber stamps, I used some fabric tape from Dollar Tree and stickers to decorate this week's very simple list.   The fabric tape is cute and cheerful, but it seems to have a mind of its own which is evident in my wonky stripes.  I like it but will be looking for small short projects to use it.  

My Dollar Tree had 6 different designs and it was on pegs with the stickers and labels.  

I'm off to get stuff done! 

Feeding the grands

4 of the grands are here for the day.  I made oatmeal pancakes and oven baked bacon for breakfast.  

There were leftovers and they went in the freezer for future breakfasts.

Last night, I boiled eggs and sliced cheese and made the fruit tray. This was today's lunch with milk and crackers.  After we ate, all the eggs and fruit were gone. 

 It was much easier planning this ahead and doing the prep last night.  

Now it's nap time and almost miraculously, all 4 are asleep! 

What are we having for supper? At the moment I have no clue.........

Supper is cooking

It's almost noon and I just started supper.  

I put a whole chicken in our bigger crockpot- spray it first with something nonstick, season the bird however you like and I like to cook birds breastside down. 

In the other crockpot I put foil wrapped sweet and white potatoes.  They don't have to be wrapped but sweet potatoes tend to drip and caramelize when they cook and I am hoping to avoid that mess.  

Both the chicken and potatoes should be done after about 5 hours on high.  

I made a big salad last night and we will have it too.  

I cooked a chicken just like this last week and planned to make chicken salad with the leftovers.  Four of the young grands were here for that meal and they liked that chicken so much, there was none left!  

A whole chicken makes an easy, low cost and healthy crowd pleasing meal around here. 

Do you have any other meals that work for a group? 

Neighborhood yard sale finds and CVS

Our little neighborhood had their annual yard sale this past Saturday morning. My son came over and we walked to every sale.  We both were happy with our finds.  

My son got this expensive looking silk plant for $2, the stone finial for $1 and I think the books were 50 cents each.  

The rest are things I bought 

Pretty frame $1

Giant heavy silver plate serving tray $2 - really! 

It still had this price tag on it. It's very grand looking, like it belongs on Downton Abbey maybe.

3 packs or weather stripping tape $1 for all 

Little boy clothes - all 25 cents each

A new Martha Stewart tablecloth $1 

Beanie Baby puppy and measuring spoons 25 cents each 

The biggest purchase was this 3 foot tall storage cabinet full of 12 by 12 inch scrapbook paper and cardstock for $15.  It's very heavy so we drove the block and a half back to pick it up in my vehicle.  

I haven't looked at every sheet but I like all the ones I have looked at.  

CVS this week 

I think before sales and coupons, the total was $60ish,  but after all the deals, I spent just under $10 cash and got $13 in CVS money to spend next week.  I've already checked out next week's ad at 

Iheartcvs.com and plan to stock up on Charmin.   

The Meta bars are free for everyone with a CVS card this week.  Just scan your CVS card and the free coupon will print out once per card.  If your store is out of them, get a rain check.  They are stocked back in the pharmacy with things like Slimfast and fiber supplements.  

Plus, if you do the Meta refund on Ibotta, there is a $2 refund on them.  I just started doing Ibotta about a month ago.  It is an easy way to refunds on retail purchases,  you just sign up and then on eligible products, you just scan the upc and receipt with the camera on a smart phone or iPad type device.  

Happy bargain shopping everyone! 

New week to do list

This week's list has a few carry overs from last week.  I got lots done but just didn't get it all finished.  

My weekly lists are made with rubber stamps on old fashioned notebook paper, sometimes colored pencils, and kept on a clipboard on my kitchen counter.  

One reason is 2 of our grandsons stayed with us for 4 days while their mom was out of town and their dad was working.  They were good but this 2 year old and 6 year old boys kept me on my toes.  They played with their cousins, swam in a wading pool in the backyard, had a great time with last week's yard sale toys, rode bikes, and ate a lot.  

And we all slept good each night after our busy days. 

Hope you all have a great week and get lots done 

Sweet birthdays and a much loved quilt

This is our daughter just a month or so after she was born,  her birthday was this week 

And it was especially special to celebrate it with her and her sweet newborn "baby Jack". 

Their family had professional family photos made by http://www.averiblackmon.com I know Nina worked hard to get all their outfits coordinated,  I was so surprised and pleased to see they used a scrappy string quilt that I sewed for them several years ago.  Jilly, who blogs at http://simplegifts365.blogspot.com isent me a box of her fabric scraps and I think I sewed this quilt 100% from her scraps.  Jilly, I know you will like the quilt and that the photos were taken in The Botanic Gardens in our town.  

Baby Jack has a head full of dark hair just like his momma did.  We are wondering if it will turn blond and be straight like his mom or curly like his siblings or will it stay dark like his dad's.  

http://www.averiblackmon.com 

Her husband was also in the photos but I don't have access to all of the shots yet or I would show him too.  He is a great guy and my favorite son in law.  

CVS deals for June 8

!I ended up making a quick stop at CVS as I did errands this morning.  I haven't been shopping there much as we are pretty stocked up on most things so I had no EXtra Care Bucks from previous purchases to use but I did have some good coupons.

For the vitamins, I used $4 coupons from Sunday's  newspaper and a CVS red box coupon for $2 off any vitamins,

The Loreal travel size hair products give a $4 ECB

The 4 pack of Colgate each give $3 ECB and I had a CVS 30% off dental 

I used a CVS $3 and manufacturer $1 coupons on the Excedrin

The Huggies were B1G150%off and I had a CVS 5/$35 diapers, $3CVS Huggies and 4 $3 Huggies coupons from pickupthesavings.com 

Also the Huggies gave a $10 cash card

The gold emblem nuts were free and are a deal anyone with a coupon printing computer can do.  Go to the cvs.com site, look under deals and coupons, and then print off the Gold Emblem coupons. There are several for $1 and $2/2.  

I spent $35 and got back $20 to use on my next CVS round of deals. 

My advice about CVS is to be sure to have a CVS rewards card, always scan it when you go there, register that card at CVS.com and sign up for Beauty rewards and the prescription rewards if you fill scripts there. Look on Facebook for a CVS group and watch LASavings8 on YouTube.  See the future CVS ads on iheartcvs.com 

Don't let it overwhelm you, I don't try to do every deal - just buy what you need and have fun!

Monday to do list

Good morning! I back with a prettied up list.   Are you working on a list? I'd love to see it.

I used some colored ink pens, they didn't photograph as bright as they look in person.

Images are all made with rubber stamps, colored with map pencils.

I rarely buy rubber stamps but when I saw this shopping lady for 25 cents at my favorite thrift store, I bought her.  I think her hair and shoes are both a hoot!

Yard sales and CVS bargains

I went to 2 neighborhood yard sales this morning with my brother and son.  We found some goodies! 

These vintage Fisher Price toys were $2

Legos - 3 gallon bags and 1 sheet- $5 for all

Storage tub was $3- packed full with 3 brand new color books, some trucks, a big gator and about a dozen transformer toys 

Gallon bag full of magnetic letters .50

Thomas the Train set $2

Just a few children's clothes-  assorted prices from different places, I think some were 50 cents and some were $1 - I looked at lots of clothes today, too many were stained- I only bought ones that were in excellent condition 

Set of Wilton tips $1 

Jar was 25 cents

Makeup bag was 25 cents

Pottery Barn children's plates were $1 each - probably my worst deal of the day but I like them and I know my grandchildren will like them too.  One of the grands is especially particular about their food not being mixed up.  

Board books $1 each - both have those 3 D pictures in them that make it seem like the animals and vehicles in them are moving.  They were both like new- makes me wonder why the first owners never read them.  

Pampered Chef mixing pitcher 25 cents!  I was wanting one of these as I am following the Trim Healthy Mama plan and wanted one to mix up big batches of GGMS. 

Little Tikes basketball goal - 25 cents!  I was looking for one of these too and never imagined I would find a good one for such a tiny price.  

My brothers pile - books, rugs, photo frames, and a CD. 

My sons pile - pretty clear drinking glasses, a book, a t shirt, a leather document bag

My son got the large tray for $1 

 Carhart overalls for $1 - my husband said new ones retail for $90 or so.  They are in very good condition, just need laundered.  

We saw lots of other good deals today that we didn't buy as we didn't need them.

I've been accumulating a discard pile and had been considering having a sale on our neighborhood-wide day.  But today's prices convinced me that I don't want too.  Yard sales are a lot of work for not much profit, at least that it how it seems in our town,  

So I am pretty sure I will be donating our pile to our favorite thrift store.  

CVS deals - just one trip this week

With coupons and $10 extra care bucks,  all this was $10.30.  

Thank you all so much for the sweet comments about our latest grandson.  He is doing just fine and is just as sweet as he looks. 

I've accomplished several jobs around my home that make life easier and me happier. 

I hope to be back blogging on a regular basis soon.