WFMW -- Another Target deal!

Since my brain is filled with thoughts of emptying boxes and lots of clutter due to our recent move I am borrowing this deal tip from my favorite deals website -- Vickys Deals.

If you love the Bertolli frozen meals, like I do, this will be a great savings. And if you haven't tried them, print these coupons, go to Target and get some yummy, cheap and simple food!

In my part of the country we do not have Super-Targets, which I think is just horrible, so I am not sure if the "regular" Target stores carry these, but I plan to go find out.

Here is a link to a $2 off Bertolli item.

And here is a link to a Target $1.50 Bertolli item.

Th Bertolli meals are about $6.14 or more. With the $3.50 in coupons, you can get them for under $3.

However, one of the members of Vickys Deals said that their Target had some of the meals on clearance so they were able to get a meal for 68 cents after coupons.

Hopefully, this will work for me and all of you. For more Works for Me Wednesday tips by visiting Rocks in My Dryer.

I need clean clothes!

Well, we are moved. All of our belongings are now in our new home. Many of the belongings are still in boxes, but we are getting settled.

With much thanks to my mom, who came to help, we have unpacked several boxes and cleaned the former home site, which was in a very nasty state. Let's just say I am surprised we did not all die from dust inhalation.

One lessons I learned from this move is that moving washers and dryers stink. Our washer's hoses would not stop leaking so we purchased new ones. Once we got those hooked up and working yesterday we discovered that our dryer plug is not compatible with the plug here. This means purchasing a new plug and having it rewired. Now I am an ambitious soul, but I am not sure that I am up for rewiring a dryer plug. That may require someone who has actually done this before.

I need to get back to unpacking and rewiring (ha!). Hope you all have a great Memorial Day!

It's a poo poo contest!

Awesome Mom is having a contest for your best kid poop story.

The prize...no, not poop, but a $20 iTunes gift card. Did you know that you don't have to have an ipod to use iTunes gift cards? You can download music on your computer. Great, huh?

I am submitting this story which I blogged about a couple months ago. Go read it...it's a good one! And if you like it, go vote for me!

Works for Me Wednesday -- Saving money with coupons at Target

I am so excited to share this with you all. I love to save money and I am so excited about this deal!!

I visit this website which I read about in Parents magazine several months ago and I joined immediately. I have been following along in the forum daily to learn how other people save money, trying to learn for myself. The forum is mostly women (actually, I've never seen a man post on there) and a lot are stay at home moms. The purpose of the forum is to list deals you discovered and several people trade coupons. In recent weeks I have discovered some fabulous deals at Target using this website.

Here is the big deal. Target has coupons on their website and also here. Often they will have great coupons good only at Target stores. For example, there are currently coupons, which expire 5/31/07 for $5 off $20 purchase of several different items (one of them includes Pampers items) and $3 off coupons when you purchase both Pampers diapers and wipes.

Target allows you to use one Target store coupon and one manufacturer coupon per item, which in coupon terminology is called "stacking" coupons.

Last week Target had their Pampers diapers on sale for $8.50 (regularly $9.54) and this was the deal that people used last week to get 5 packages of Pampers and 5 packages of Kandoo wipes for $2.50. Yes, you read that right, $2.50!!!!

Feel & Learns 5 @ 8.50 = $42.50
Kandoo 100 ct 5 @ 3.74 = $18.70
Total $61.20 -$15.00 Homemade simple coupons
= $46.20 -$18.70 Kandoo WYB Coupons
= $27.50 -$15.00 --> (5) Target $3.00 off diapers and wipes coupons
= $12.50 -$10.00 --> (5) Pampers $2.00 coupons
Total $2.50 plus tax of course. For 5 Mega packs and 5 Kandoo 100 ct wipes.

In order to get this deal you needed to have the printable Target coupons (those are the Homemade Simple coupons mentioned above...which are on the second link above), 5 of the manufacturer coupons to buy a package of Feel and Learn and get a Kandoo product free, plus 5 manufacturer coupons - $2 off Feel and Learn.

Now, I unfortunately did not do this deal last week as I did not have all the coupons; however, it was also figured out that you could get the same deal if you bought only 2 package of Pampers and 2 Kandoo products at the same price. What is great is that you did not have to buy just Feel and Learn products, but this works for the regular Pampers diapers...and all the coupons worked just the same.

Well today, even though the regular size package of Pampers diapers were not on sale and back at the regular price of $9.54, I decided to go get a good deal. Prior to going I figured out that the Pepsi 12 packs were also on sale 4/$11. The Target coupon generator above (the first link) had printable $1 off a Pepsi 12 pack. I was able to print 4 of these coupons, plus used all the coupons above. My deal was as follows:

2 jumbo packs of Pampers (not on sale)
1 package of Pampers wipes
1 package of Kandoo wipes
4 12 packs of Pepsi

My total before coupons was $34, after $12.

I used
1 - $5 Target coupon
2 - $3 Target coupons
2 - $2 off Pampers coupons
1 - Free Pampers wipes coupon
1 - Free Kandoo Coupons
4 -$1 off Pepsi 12 pack Target coupons

Target had a couple coupons in some newspapers this Sunday, so if you have those coupons, go print the other coupons you need for Target and get a great deal.

All of the printable coupons expire on May 31. I plan to go back again if I can accrue enough free coupons (which I have traded for on the website above). It's always great to stock up...we all know how much these diapers can cost!

Target coupon clipping works for me...for more Works for Me Wednesday posts go visit Shannon at Rocks in My Dryer.

I'm oh so busy...packing and saving money!

I just wanted to let you all know that I am probably going to be M.I.A. this week. We are scheduled to move on Thursday and I have just about all of our belongings left to pack. In addition to being swamped at home with work to do and a short time frame, I am also swamped at work because I have to get all of my time-sensitve work (which is all of my work) done so I can be off work on Thursday and Friday for the big move. That being said, I do plan to have a WFMW post pertaining to saving money, but other than that post I may not be around much this week. As for my WFMW post, I have been learning how to "stack coupons" from a website I visit and I will be sharing how I have been saving lots of money at Target. So stay tuned! :-) Have a great week everyone!

#100, ok really #101!

Yesterday's Works for Me Wednesday post was my 100TH POST (cue music, balloons and confetti falling from sky...watch out for the falling music)!!!!

I have been trying to consider what fun thing I could post about for my 100th post and I sure did not think it would come this fast! I just began blogging in January, only 4 months ago. I know that I don't have THAT much stuff to talk about so I wondered how in the world I made it to 100 so quickly.

I looked at my blog history and I have to say that I am an contest freak! I love to win something, so I enter every contest under the sun, and a large amount of my posts have been related to such contests. And it all pays off, since I just recently won my first prize: Fruity Cheerios!! Yum, Yum!

I could subtract all the "bloggy business/contest" posts from the grand total, but I'm not gonna do it...Blogger counts it as a post, so I am too (plus that would take way too much time I don't really have since I am trying to pack up everything in my home and move it to another NEXT WEEK!).

In honor of this HUGE feat I am going to post 10 things I have yet to mention about myself (many of which may turn in to a post one day, so keep reading!). Oh, and if you think about it, 10 x 10 = 100, so here goes, in honor of post #100, here are 10 things I have yet to reveal to the bloggy world until today.

#1 -- My husband is a big time WWE wrestling fan and I have to admit I watch it too. We even went to a live RAW show on Valentine's Day 2005 (oh, how romantic!) when I was 5-6 weeks pregnant with Jake. Oh, there is so much more I could say about this, but I must save it all for the future (I have to leave something to make it to post 200).

#2 -- I have hit 4 cars in parking lots. 2 moving, 2 parked. Needless to say, I am not the best parker or backer-upper.

#3 -- I am a closet hypochondriac. Okay, so maybe not so closet, but I fret and worry about every little look, action or lack there of that Jake does (or my body experiences). I did so while he was in the womb and I do so this day. I will never stop, I am certain of it, after all it was my comment to the eye doctor that led to glasses, proving the point that a hypochondriac is not always CRAAAAAZY!!

#4 --Speaking of CRAAAAZY, I stalk people. Okay, not really, but I do like to know what people are doing, where their lives have taken them, etc. So if I fall out of touch with someone, you will find me doing a google search for them to see what is happening in their lives. This is one reason I started a blog...because I know everyone is searching for my name out there! Ha! Be sure to keep in touch with me or else your name will be a google search one day!

#5 -- I have lived in 4 states, 12 homes (13 next week...I hope that number is lucky for me), and 7 towns.

#6 -- I have worked for the same agency since I graduated college. Some days I would love to stay forever and work toward retirement at an early age (although, I will have no social security, so what is the point?) and other days I would love to run far, far away!

#7 -- I LOVE the fact that Jake has red hair and I hope he has freckles, especially on his little nose. I don't have freckles or red hair so I think it is all so cute...I am certain he will hate them both one day.

#8 -- When I was 4 years old my parents purchased an exercise bike. I wanted to ride on it and so did my 2 year old sister. My legs barely touched the pedals and as I barely turned the wheel, my sister put her hand in the spokes of the bike. At that very moment my mom turned around and saw this and sent ME to bed without dinner. That night as I laid in my dark room alone I experienced the first time my stomach growled. I had never heard this sound before (and seldom have since) and I immediately thought of my mom saying to me, "If you keep eating your stomach will explode." For some reason, my 4 year old brain told me the growling noise was the preparation of my stomach exploding (despite the fact that I had not eaten) and I began to fear that my stomach would burst open and food would fly out. Only, my little brain imagined food that you don't eat, like banana peels and apple cores. No, my stomach never exploded and yes, I remember this event to this day. I can see the dark room in my head with a little bit of light coming in from the hallway.

#9 -- #8 sure was long, but stemming from # 8 I will say that my memory is as sharp as a tack...or it was, since the baby my memory has been shot (along with a lot of other stuff). However, my first memory ever was when I knocked our car out of gear the summer I was 2 when I was jumping around in the front seat. My mom was 8 months pregnant with my sister and my dad was getting ice cream for us. We only rolled a few feet backwards, but I still remember it. My second memory was a month later when my sister was born. I don't remember holding her, but I remember going to the hospital and putting on Donald Duck pajamas (scrubs) and washing my hands in a dark room (the bathroom without the light on). My dad says this is exactly how I told the story to people for days afterwards...he doesn't believe in my sharp memory, but again, I can see the dark room in my head...funny how my mental images are always of dark rooms. Maybe it's not so funny...

#10 -- Since, I'm stuck on childhood memories, here's another -- my parents love to remind me of my promise to them that I would have 10 kids and live next door when I was grown up. I wanted to live next door so my mom could baby-sit all 10 kids when I went to work. Funny how things change, since now the thought of 10 kids sends me into a panic attack, but I would not mind living next door to my parents and not 100s of miles away.

So there you have it...Post #101 and counting!

Works for Me Wednesday -- Keeping window blind cord away from kids

My son is a curious kid. He loves to see what everything does and especially loves to look out his bedroom window. I daily open his blinds so he can view all the fun outside (and to keep him from breaking the blinds, we have already replaced one set). Just keeping the blinds open is not enough for a curious toddler and he also enjoys to grab the cord to the blinds. Now when I open the bedroom blinds each day I toss the cord to the window blind over the curtain rod to keep little hands off.

It works for me. For more tips visit Shannon at Rocks in my Dryer!

Where is the originality?

Those of you few faithful readers may not watch as much television as we do at our house, so if that is the case, then you can skip this blog rant...it may not make much sense to you. However, if you are a TV addict such as we are, then read on and feel free to rant with me.

Today I read an article on MSN that the Law and Order series (how do I make that plural? serieses?) on NBC are continuing. The original Law and Order series is going into its 18th year. Wow! 18 years of storylines is a lot...but folks, there needs to be a little bit of originality!

My husband is a huge Law and Order fan. He began watching the original Law and Order and continues to follow each spin-off, SVU and Criminal Intent. He is so much of a fan he watched the short lived Trial by Jury spin off last year (ok, so I watched it too).

I enjoy crime dramas and I love me some CSI (another spin off crazy show), but Law and Order has been taking the stories from the real life headlines way too much lately.

The past couple weeks each episode was related to a very, very similar story in our news from the Anna Nicole story, to a murdered lover of a NASA (or on the show, NSA) astronaut, to the kidnapping story of the 2 boys in St. Louis area. The shows typically don't hide the fact that they are ripping off real new stories. Often very little facts are changed.

My question is why. Why do we have to be subjected to some of the same stories that are on TV non-stop once again in a crime drama?

Maybe 18 years is too much for a TV show to maintain orginality, especially one that has two spin-offs of similar nature running at the same time. Do they need new writers? I am certain that some local law enforcement officers could give some ideas for story lines.

What will be next?

Pimp that Car

We recently purchaed a new television. We joined the times and got a flat screen. We decided to donate our former television to our church. Since only 3 people live in my home (myself, hubby and the kiddo) we decided it was not necessary to have 4 TVs. Yes, I said 4. With the purchase of the new TV our count added up to 4. We had the new TV, a 27 inch, a 22 inch and a 13 inch. There is definitely not a need for 4 TVs, especially since only 2 of them were plugged in and being used.

So, Sunday we took one of the TVs to church. As we were getting in the car to go to church hubby told Jake, "Look, it's like we are on 'Pimp My Ride' with a TV in our car."

Oh my lands...I laughed so hard! That's us, with our 22 inch box TV sitting in the back seat...we are totally like "Pimp My Ride!"

I'm a WINNER!

I acutally WON SOMETHING!!! I signed up for a contest over at 5 Minutes for Mom to win a box of Fruity Cheerios. And I won a box! I am excited to let Jacob try this new cereal. I think he was getting a little tired with his regular morning breakfast of plain Cheerios.

Not only did I win, but I can enter to win another contest, just because I won the Fruity Cheerios. Modern Mom is having a contest to win $500 if you send a picture of video of your child eating Fruity Cheerios. You better believe I will be doing this! I just hope I haven't used up all my luck yet!

And don't forget that 5 Minutes for Mom is having a Mother's Day contest. They have several items up for grabs. Go check out these prizes and sign up. The contest ends at midnight tonight!

I love you mom!

For a couple days this week my mom was able to visit with us. She had to attend a training near us so she was able to stay with us during that time.

It was great to get to spend my evenings with my mom. I have not lived with my parents for nearly 10 years and it was great to feel like I lived with my mom again. We were able to go shopping, eat dinner, play with Jacob and spend some good mother/daughter time.

As Mother's Day is approaching I have been thinking more about how much I appreciate my mom. I don't think I can ever put in to words how appreciative I am of how my mom sacrificed for me and my sister. Or how she taught us life lessons without them actually feeling like a lesson.

I hope I can be just as great of a mother to Jacob and future children. I hope I can instill God's love and values just as my mom did for me. I have and will continue to make mistakes, but I pray that Jacob does not remember those mistakes, but will remember only the lessons, love and laughter he experienced with his mom.

Happy Mother's Day Mom!

Works for Me Wednesday -- Baby Shower "game"

At the baby shower my sister held for me when I was pregnant with Jacob, she had purchased generic cards which were blank inside. The envelopes were numbered 1, 2, 3, etc up to the number of people who were attending the shower. She had each person write a birthday wish to Jacob for the year corresponding to the number on the front of the envelope. I love this idea. I forgot about the cards for Jacob's actual 1st birthday, but found them in a drawer a couple weeks after his birthday. That 1st birthday card happened to be from my sister and it was great excitment opening the card to see who it was from! I hope not to forget again in the future and I hope to make opening this card a fun thing for each birthday as Jacob continues to grow older.

This could also be done for a wedding shower, corresponding with the anniversary year.

This works for me, for more tips visit Shannon.

Another Mother's Day Giveaway

Jules at Everyday Mommy is having a Giveaway to win a new blog design for Typepad or Blogger folks. I'm hoping for some new decor! If you are too, go check out the details.

It can't get here soon enough

As I mentioned in my last post we are moving soon to a new townhouse. I am so very excited about this as we are currently living in a 2nd floor apartment and with a toddler, this is not always convenient. I was never more happy about moving than I was on Wednesday.

After I picked up Jacob on Wednesday I decided to run through the McDonald's drive thru...basically I was just feeling lazy and did not want to cook dinner. I made our purchase and traveled home.

Anytime we go through a drive thru I try not to let Jacob eat anything while in the car because he has an addiction to french fries. As soon as he starts eating them he can't stop and he throws a major temper tantrum when he does not have one in his hand or mouth.

Well, I forgot about this on Wednesday and gave him a french fry, and then another, and then another...well, you get the picture.

When we arrived home I strategically balanced the McDonalds bags and drinks as well as a gallon of milk I had picked up as well as my purse and the diaper bag...and don't forget the kiddo.

Jacob typically walks to the apartment and climbs up the stairs with no problems. Well, this evening he was experiencing his french fry withdrawal and began to experience his temper tantrum complete with stomping of the feet, refusing to walk and screaming. I was not able to pick him up and hurry into the apartment before everyone looked out their windows to see who this child belonged to, so I just kept trying to make him walk along to the steps.

Despite the temper tantrum we made it to the steps and at that time I realized the gallon of milk should not have been leaning against the McDonalds bag as food began to spill out onto the ground. And I mean all the food.

To top it off, Jacob refused to climb the steps and stood at the bottom screaming and crying with snot dripping off his chin. Being the responsible mother I am I picked up the salvagable food and hurried up the steps to drop it off in the apartment and then went back down the steps to claim the screaming child.

*Sigh* Only 19 more days until I can park only feet from my front door and make it in my home with all 10 chicken nuggets instead of only the 8 that did not hit the ground.

Swimming Pool Thief

Wasn't Jacob just so cute in this $4 Wal-Mart swimming pool last summer. We put the pool on our balcony and let him play. He spent a few summer days playing in the pool, but removing the water from a second floor balcony without dumping everything on the neighbors below was trouble, so we didn't use it much. All winter the pool was propped up against the side of the building on our balcony. Last week I realized the pool was gone. I don't know what happenend to it. Neither hubby nor I moved it. I believe winds from a storm picked it up and carried it away. To me, it's the only logical explanation. I doubt anyone scaled the side of the building to get a $4 Wal-Mart blow up pool. So, we will be going back to Wal-Mart soon to purchase a new pool for Jacob. But this time, we will get to use it in the grass in our new backyard of our townhouse!!! Maybe it won't blow away this time!

Works for Me Wednesday -- Birthday Cupcakes and Gift Opening

Today is a birthday theme edition of Works for Me Wednesday. I have not one, but two tips
Tip # 1: For my son's 1st birthday this past year I decided to make cupcakes as opposed to a cake. One cupcake is the perfect size for a 1 year old and my husband's mother did this for both of her kids. Hubby felt like it should be a tradition, and it was a cheaper option (as I made the cupcakes) than purchasing a cake would have been (I would definitely not have tried to make a cake). I spelled out "Happy 1st Birthday Jacob" on the cupcakes. Here is a picture of the cupcakes.
They weren't perfect looking, but they tasted good and Jacob enjoyed them!


Tip #2: As I have previously mentioned during WFMW my sister and I do not live around our families so keeping our children involved in everyone's life can be a challenge. At my nephew's first birthday party instead of my sister helping open presents with him she had the person each gift was from help him open the gift they brought. This way each person was able to spend a moment of quality time with my nephew that they would not ordinarily get to spend.

Go visit Shannon for more great Birthday Tips.

Mother's Day Giveaway

5 Minutes for Mom is having a Mother's Day Giveaway with different contests until Mother's Day. Go check them out. The first contest is for an ipod nano...it's pink!! Gotta love that! So go...check it out!