Playdate

Yesterday, Laura, Ruth and Austin came to visit me, mom and Elisa. We had a great time catching up and watching these two be cute. Austin is only 2 weeks older than Elisa, so they are practically the same developementally. He is adorable. I really thought I had the cutest baby in the world, but I guess there are some other sweeties out there too. I wouldn't be surprised if some photos show up on Ruth's blog, but here are a couple I got. Of course, neither of us could get our flashes to warm up for the cutest moment ever when they were holding hands (totally on their own I promise). These are pretty good though. Thanks for visiting guys!

Back on the Horse

I am proud to report that I went back to the store with my coupons. I took a fed and rested baby with me and she did very good. We went to Kmart, which is not someplace I usually shop, but I had a store specific coupon for $5 off Enfamil formula. Anyways, I was pleased to find they had a lot of good sales and I saved almost $5 in sale prices plus $15.oo in coupons. Over 20% of my entire purchase. Yea! It was encouraging to have a shopping success with Elisa and start saving money again. Who knows, maybe I'll start going back to Aldi soon too! This baby stuff sure complicates things.

Couponing and Me

All right ladies. I hope I am not the only one who has had this experience.


Clip coupons religiously. Make a list for the grocery store. Separate relevant coupons, coupons too good not to use before they expire etc. Take it all to the store and shop, diligently comparing items with coupons, eliminating some when they still don't make a good deal. Stand in a huge line at checkout and watch the lady in front of me couponing while the cashier tells some story about a lady who routinely saves like $70.00 in coupons (wowsers, where is she finding them I wonder?). Get to the checkout counter, distracted by fussy baby in my arms and VOILA, forget to use the stupid coupons. Of course I realized it as soon as she handed me the receipt.


I felt like cursing. This is the second time in a row this has happened. And the reality of it- with a baby in my arms, hot car to look forward to and groceries melting in the cart-is that it suddenly it doesn't seem worth it to return/exchange, get a manager involved etc., all over a lost savings of a few dollars, even if it is 10% of my purchase. So, I just swallowed it and went home a few dollars poorer than I had to. Some days it just doesn't seem worth it.


What a lot of wasted effort just to feel stupid! Seems like there are such easier ways...

Maybelle

For those curious about seeing pictures of our new house, Brandon is supposed to be working on a photo album to put on his blog since it has room to host a lot of photos. However, since it is taking him forever to get around to it (mostly since we have so much yardwork to do) here is a teaser...

This is what we started with!

So, when you visit, you'll know just how far we have come.