Purslane, cactus, mermaid craft and another big meal

Thank you all for the information about our mystery plant, purslane.  

We haven't eaten any of yet but I did move it's pot where it shouldn't be able to spread to anyplace we don't want it.  

My son made this cactus arrangement for his uncle's birthday.  

I saw this mermaid craft idea on Instagram.  My daughter already had the Popsicle sticks that have a head and arms.  I set out play dough and a box of assorted sequins, tiny shells and buttons.  

The grands had the best time making these as did the adults who helped.  

This is a craft that is mostly enjoyed in the making, not for keeping, as so many of doo-dads did not stay attached as the dough dried.  That pile of doo-dads on the right is just what fell off.  

Some have tails and some have princess dresses and some are supposed to be boy mermaids.  

Some have hair and are embellished on both sides.  The children who made them were ages 3-7 and all thought it was a lot of fun.  

For my brother's recent birthday, we had a big family meal here.  

This meal was one of the easiest group meals I remember serving.   

The main entree was make your own taco salad.  

I set out tortilla chips, chopped romaine lettuce and tomatoes, a dish of beef taco meat and a bowl of homemade salsa.  All the tomatoes were from our backyard.  

We had a pot of spicy beans and taco salad toppings. 

Meals here always include fruit - this was a cantaloupe from our backyard and strawberries from Aldi (and an adult hand snitching fruit early) 

My daughter brought the desserts- a lemon pound cake and key lime yogurt pie. Both were delicious.  

These grandsons were the last to leave and they love desserts.  They ate lots of supper and then wanted a little more cake and green pie before they went home.  

If you look, you'll see they are using disposable bowls.  Big meals here are always served on disposable plates and bowls.  I find Aldi and the military commissary have the best prices,  I was shocked how much they cost at Walmart now.

The disposable plates and bowls just make clean up so much quicker and easier! 

Summer will be around another month or so but the area schools start next week.  

We've had a fun summer break with lots of cousin fun.  This was a picnic last week after 5 of the cousins played at one of our town's splash pads.  

I hope you all enjoy the rest of your summer- however much longer it lasts ❤️

A mystery succulent, planting and a bit more CVS

My son likes to buy succulents and cactus when Lowes has them on the clearance cart for $1-$2. 

Then he re pots them and leaves them at our house for us to plant sit.  

They aren't much trouble and they are thriving in the summer heat and liking all the summer rain.  

But the succulent in the big white pot is a mystery.  My son says he didn't buy it and I sure didn't.  It has grown lots and when I looked at early this morning, it had dozens of tiny yellow flowers.  I guess they close up in the heat of the day.  

Anyone know the name of this mystery succulent? 

He also has some jade plants that have tripled in size this summer.  

The zinnias we grew from seed were slow to get started but are growing up and blooming so pretty 😄

My husband is starting some seeds for fall crops - broccoli, onions, lettuces.......

And Surprise! Or probably not..............

I made a second trip to CVS this week.  The deals were too good not to do them. 

I used my $16 ExtraCareBucks from yesterday.

$2 coupons on each Gain- from the Sunday paper, Coupons.com and the PG website

.25 coupons on Puffs from Sunday newspaper

.25 coupons on Dawn from Coupons.com

Those products came to just a but more than $30 and gave back a $10 ExtraCareBuck

The Body Armour sports drinks are a freebie - they were $3 for 2 and give back a $3 ExtraCareBuck

My mom asked for deodorant and they did not stock the exact kind she requested but the ones I got were too good a deal to pass up and if she doesn't want them, I'll keep them and look at other stores for hers. 

The Lady Speedstick was $2 for $5 and gave back a $2 ExtraCareBuck and I used a 50 cent coupon on each. 

I had a $2 off $8 any deodorant coupon from the CVS printer and also a $1 on any Mitchum.  

So I added a Mitchum to make my deodorant purchase over $8 and I also used a $2 Mitchum coupon.

All 3 deodorants after coupons ended up costing  $3.19 and I got the $2 ExtraCareBuck on the deal.  

Total spent was $10.06 and I got back $15 total ExtraCareBucks for my next trip.

Hope you are all having a great start to August 😍

CVS haul and some tips for US CVS shoppers and baby RJ

Hello! I have been just busy the last 10 days helping with my grands and then my husband had some mouth surgery.  But things are settling down, everyone is fine and I'm getting back to more routine things.  

Here is a bunch of information about how I shop at CVS- as requested- but if you're not into CVS, just scroll to the bottom for sweet photo of baby RJ.  ❤️

I went to CVS today.  This was $57 before coupons, $26 after and I got back $16 in CVS ExtraCareBucks to spend next time.  

The Tide, Dawn and Puffs are all on sale and offer $10 back when you spend $30.

I had printable $2 Tide coupons from Coupons.com and .25 on the Dawn from the same place.  

Haagen Doz ice cream was 2/$7.  I used $1 coupons on each from a recent Sunday insert and got back $3 for each 2. 

Special K was $1.99 I used 2 coupons from the CVS website.  One was for $2/2 Special K and one was $1.  I also had a CVS red box coupon for $1/ any 3 cereals. 

Gold Emblem nuts were $1. I used a $2/2 Gold Emblem nuts coupon printed from the CVS website.   

My receipt and my EXtraCareBucks for next time.  

Tips for CVS 

I plan deals ahead looking at the future CVS ads at IHeartCVS.com 

I look at other CVS shoppers on YouTube.  

My favorite YouTuber is LASavings8.  She is brief and gets the deals across without a bunch of mumbo-jumbo.  She usually posts her deals Sunday morning about 9 a.m. CST  She has already put up a video about this week's deals but she won't have videos for the next 2 weeks as she will be on her honeymoon.  

On YouTube, I also watch 

SavingWithJanandShirl The Coupon Queens

CouponingStacy

Thrifty & Thriving 

Couponing with Toni - she is really good and might be most helpful to CVS beginners 

For all CVS shopper - get a CVS card and then go on the CVS website and sign up to be in Beauty Bucks (you'll be rewarded $5 in EXtraCareBucks for every $50 spent on beauty products and this is before coupons.  The reward comes about 48 hours after your purchases reach $50)

Also sign up for the prescription rewards if you will fill prescriptions at CVS.  

Get the CVS app on any smart device like an Android phone, iPad, iPod or iPhone and check for App only coupons after you link your CVS card to it.  

Scan your CVS card weekly at a CVS redbox card scanner.  (Not the movie rental kiosk but a kiosk inside CVS) scann your card until it quits printing CVS personal coupons.  These will be based on what you previously purchaed.  You could get 10-20 a week and they vary widely like $5/25 any diaper purchase or $2 off $6 any Listerine.  They change weekly.m

The CVS coupons can be combined with Manufacturer coupons.  

Also sign up your email with CVS to get coupons.  I usually get an email the first part of the week for something like $2 off any cosmetic or shampoo.  I usually get emails on Thursday and they will have a CVS coupon for something like $6/30 any purchase or 30% off any non-sale items.  

I also belong to a few CVS Facebook groups to see what other shoppers are getting.  Some of them are very busy lists and I just scan over the posts before I go shopping to make sure I am matching up everything,  

Couponing at CVS is my favorite Facebook group.  

Newspaper coupons - I usually have a few multiples as I subscribe to 2 Sunday papers.  My parents save their coupons and I think my dad usually scrounges up a few extras that he finds at their retirement home. Also, my brother saves his coupons for me and he has access to several papers as part of his job.   If you know someone who subscribes to papers but doesn't coupon, chances are they would be happy to save the inserts.  

Also, if you want to buy a Sunday paper or several for the coupons, Dollar Tree sells newspapers for $1.

I know this all sounds like a lot of hoops to jump through, but once I learned how,  I really enjoy doing it.  And I really like having a big supply/stockpile of most every product we like, bought for very little.  

And here is professional photo of grand #8,  baby RJ ❤️

Thank you all for your sweet greetings about him from my last post.  

And doesn't he have such pretty baby hair? 

Have a good August everyone 

Introducing Grand #8

We are blessed with another sweet grand this week - Richard James or RJ

He is 9 pounds 9 ounces with plenty of brown hair 

He scrunches up his face so tight, it makes a deep crease at the top of his nose.  

❤️

Another big meal, CVS, some family fun & a retro kitchen

We had a big group here for Saturday breakfast - 5 children and 6 adults.

Mornings can be a bit crazy so I did as much prep as I could Friday night.  

The table was set and stools were brought in of extra seating for little ones.

The breakfast meat was put in the fridge to thaw and I set out the skillet and plates that would be used to cook it.  I used precooked bacon and turkey sausage patties.  I buy them discounted at a military commissary with coupons and the extra price is worth it to me for their ease and convenience.  

Back when our budget was much tighter I couldn't even consider them, but now, I am quite thankful to afford these treats.  

I also made a big batch of pancake batter.  My daughter was commenting how tasty my pancakes always are.  I told her that I've got several pancake recipes but I always use brown sugar instead of white sugar and I add a good splash of vanilla to every pancake recipe I use.

I set up the coffeemaker with water and coffee.  I set out the right combination of sippy cups and child size cups we would need. 

I also laid out clothes for the overnight grandchildren to dress in and I even set out mine and my husband's morning prescription and vitamin doses.  

Our morning went especially smooth, even cooking breakfast for 11.  😄

CVS 

I'm still shopping there though I have skipped a few weeks this summer.  

2 weeks ago, I got $140 worth of stuff seen below for $40 and got back $37 ECBs.  I don't usually spend that much cash but I got a lot of stuff, including 2 expensive lipsticks that were not on special.  

This past week,  I bought $93 worth and spent just $4 cash.  

I used manufacturer coupons, ECBs personal CVS coupons from their app and from the red machine in CVS stores to drop my total so low.  

And I earned more ECBs with this purchase for the next CVS sale I do.

By the way,  the Gold Emblem deluxe mixed nuts and cashews are delicious. 

Family Fun 

Our 4th grandchild, Braeden, turned 4 and we celebrated at a local restaurant that also has 4 bowling lanes.  It was very fun and the food was delicious!  

The grandchildren really enjoy homemade Popsicles - just orange juice frozen in an old fashioned Tupperware mold.  

Jackson wasn't too sure he liked his first orange juice Popsicle

But after a few tastes, he decided they were very good.  

My daughter took this photo on their recent 2 week road trip.  This is her husband's great aunt's kitchen in North Carolina.  

Retro appliances like this are not something common nowaways as most everyone seems to want stainless steel and granite. But I think these old appliances are so cool.  My electrician brother pointed out that the burner controls are the buttons on the vent hood.

That's the highlights from around here- have a wonderful Sunday everyone! 

Aldi finds

Hello everyone!  

When I saw this week's Aldi ad, I knew I wanted to check out these jumbo containers.  

My daughter and I both went and we both liked them and bought some.  

They truly are JUMBO 😀 They sell for $4.99 for either a single 10 liter or two 5 liter containers.  

I plan to use mine in our pantry to hold flour, sugar or other dry goods.  They are way too large to fit In my upper kitchen cabinets.  

My daughter's upper cabinets are bigger than ours.  She is using her jumbo containers for flour, sugar and powdered sugar.  And she is way ahead of me, having hers already in use and mine are still in their wrappers, unfilled.  

I also bought this 9 gallon utility basket for $6.99.  It is bigger than the shopping baskets in some retail stores but smaller than a laundry basket.  They also came in red, blue and gray.  

I am so thankful for a local Aldi.  It is such a nice store with great values.  

Another great giveaway from Sluggy

Giveaway at Sluggy's blog

Sluggy has another great giveaway box on her blog.  I won a box of goodies from  her in the spring and it was so fun.  She is for real, just go enter if you have time.
And enter every day for better chances of winning. 

She is offering health products, skin care things, chocolate and Mardi Gras beads.  

Really, go enter every day.  You just might win.  

4th of July and happenings

Hello everyone!

This is the front page of our newspaper today, I think it is the  nicest front page I've seen in a long time

This is an odd sight in our town - 4 giant dogs in a storage lot.  We don't know what they are for but they are great looking dogs and very well made.  My husband is 5'11" and they are taller than he is!

I made a batch of granola last week.  It uses very simple ingredients and turned out great!  I like to eat a little granola on top of yogurt.  

This is tastier and much cheaper than buying those little flip cups of yogurt with topping.  

I got the recipe from an Internet friend, Michelle @ homemakingwithlove

You can find her on Instagram and YouTube. 

Thanks Michelle ❤️

I followed this recipe, adding about 1/2 cup of coconut and because we have a bounty of pecans, about 1 1/2 cups.  I also baked about 25 minutes as I like granola extra crunchy.

Sewing - I cut out more than 20 burp cloths for my grandchildren and for gifts.  

The fabric is from Joanns.  

Below is another meal for a group that ended up being a meal to go.  

My aunt and uncle were in our town and they met us along with my parents at our daughter's house.  

Steak fingers,

Mashed potatoes

Gravy

Chopped tomatoes, onions and cucumbers dressed with a little balsamic dressing

Chopped fresh fruit

And a box of Aldi cookies- my daughter surprised us with a warm blackberry cobbler so all the adults had cobbler and only the children had cookies. 

I packed all the food into Dollar Tree plastic containers and everything carried nicely in my big Thirty One Gifts tote.  I put cold foods on one side and hot foods on the other.  

My husband put in a small garden, this first summer of his retirement.  He enjoys it and has harvested quite a few radishes, onions, yellow squash and bell peppers.  The tomatoes are starting to ripen like crazy 😍

 

We always seem to have a craft or two going on here.  

Below is Elizabeth making a birthday card for her dad.  

JJ likes to cut- I think we could hire him out as a confetti maker.  

He likes to ham for camera too 😍

Perler beads are so fun 

Elizabeth made a Grand Old Flag 

And I made a big Captain America.  

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                                       Happy 4th of July to all my American readers 

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