Since the recession became full swing it seems the craze for coupons has dramatically increased and I have slowly been suckered in. I will say I am a moderate coupon clipper and I have been very proud of my success but compared to the coupon nazi's I have only really touched the surface. I do not think that I will ever be able to walk out of the grocery store and say I have $100 worth of groceries and only spent $10. The most I have ever saved has been $75 but I still spent $120. Let me back up just a bit I only shop at Publix because of the awesome BOGO's (for the beginners that means Buy One Get One also known as B1G1). All of those big bins right when you walk in the door they literally suck you in and you feel the need to purchase several of the items even if you never have really tried the item. I just feel like I am getting such a good deal. However lately maybe it has taken me a little while but I realize that half of that stuff really when it is a BOGO the sale price is brought down to a comparable price with other grocery stores. Publix is a little over priced and if you are normal like me I am still going to buy other necessary items whether it is on sale or not. So when the cashier says "You saved X dollars today" you really should cut that amount in half. The real savings is when you have coupons on top of the BOGO price. And I have noticed that several items rotate on the BOGO list fairly often. In the beginning I felt the need to purchase several items the week it was a BOGO because it could be "ages" before it goes on sale again, thus why I have 4 gallons of apple juice, 2 large bottles of EVOO, 5 large jars of spaghetti sauce, and 4 boxes of opened cereal in our pantry...just to name a few. Chad usually helps me unload the groceries after my trip and this last time when apple juice was on sale again and I bought another gallon, he said Brooke I think we are good on apple juice we will probably still have some on back up the next time it goes on sale. It is becoming a little bit of an obsession not only with the groceries. Since I started reading some of these "saving blogs" I find myself only wanting to buy something, anything, unless it is on sale or if I have some sort of coupon. Just last week Saks was having friends and family and I called and place an order just because I could get 10% my cosmetics which is basically the amount of the taxes, not much but just a little bit of savings. And then I found my self searching the website for any other items that I "had" to have because I could get 20% off on apparel items and shoes. And just today I get an email from Banana Republic that states "Today only get 40% off 2 items". Usually on Wednesdays they send me an email with a coupon for 40% off 1 item, but TODAY it is 2!! So tempting...I still have that website open on my browser searching for 2 items!!
I could go on but to most this post was probably not very entertaining :)
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
After one visit James selects Auburn as his First Choice
As if he had another choice :)! KIDDING! As long as he wants to go to college and gets accepted we will be happy with whatever school he chooses. It was so much fun to go back to Auburn and take James. Chad and I have so many memories from our 5 years there it was definitely surreal bringing our child with us. Our life has changed so much since then. As we sat on the balcony of our hotel at night with our friends who also went to Auburn we watched all of the college "kids" walk down the streets headed to the local bar or fraternity band party beginning their night as we were winding down ours with our young children sleeping in the next room. I just do not feel that much more grown up but reality is we really are. Saturday we took James to Samford Hall to take a few pics. The weather could not have been more perfect. We then headed to Chad's old fraternity house for a little tailgate and to see uncle Chase who is now a Sig Ep. For all those who went to the Sig Ep house it still smells exactly the same and is just as filthy :) I was making sure James didn't touch anything! Which is kind of funny considering his daddy lived there for 3 of our 5 years. We walked around campus for a little bit before heading into the game and James was starting to get hot and ill. We were trying to forgo the nap that day since the game was at 1pm. I figured he skips it sometimes at preschool so we should be fine. What was I thinking?? We got to our seats fortunately in the shade and James was in a trance. He loved the pregame show with the band and the videos on the jumbo tron as well as loved watching Aubie. He was shaking his Auburn shaker as if he was a regular fan at the games. This lasted all of the first quarter. The second quarter is when it all went downhill and he was fighting sleep. So we left and he took a nap as soon as we got back to the hotel. I really think he would have been fine had he not been so tired however I think the idea of us taking him back to a game this fall may have nipped until he is a few years older. I have included a couple of pics from the day.
For some reason when I was in college I never took pictures of the main landmarks. Funny how much we took the campus for granted.
The picture below is for my good friend Julie...hopefully she remembers the significance.
All in all it was a great trip back and we hope to go back this fall!
Monday, April 12, 2010
Happy Easter!
We had a fabulous Easter weekend! KK, Pop and Uncle Chase joined us the weekend. KK came in town a little early to stay home with James while his day care was closed. Therefore Chad and I got to enjoy going out to dinner just the 2 of us which does not happen very often. Then Saturday we spent most of the day outside taking in the spring weather. Sunday morning James woke up to a little surprise the Easter bunny had left him. Not sure where my mind was that morning because I completely forgot to take a picture of his basket before he took everything out. He got a couple of educational movies :), Easter Mickey, a new Mickey cup and plate, and a couple of t-shirts. He was really excited about the empty eggs! After opening Easter goodies we all headed to the Grand at Point Clear for breakfast and a visit with the Easter bunny. 
James was not too sure about the Easter bunny at first but once Pop helped him warm up to him he was in love. James gave the Easter bunny multiple high fives and hugs. We were all amazed. It was the cutest thing to watch.
Running around with Uncle Chase
Didn't realize until I looked back at this picture that all the boys were dressed in a shade of blue and we honestly didnt plan it. :)
A few girls just happened to be blowing bubbles as we walked by and James was not shy and completely took over. I think the girls were having so much fun laughing at him chasing the bubbles they kept the bubbles coming. James was loving it!
One last smell of the beautiful flowers before heading home for a long nap.
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Monday, March 29, 2010
James' 2nd Birthday 3.20.10
I have broken the birthday into 2 posts. The first one (this one) includes the preparation/party decor :) And the second see below includes the party entertainment...ha! Lots of pictures I am sorry but I took close to 150 so I did narrow it down ALOT. I did steal a few too from Papop's camera. I did realize that I guess when you are the person behind the camera 98% of the time you hardly ever make it in a picture. But the party was not about me (ha!) it was about celebrating James 2nd Birthday!! This second year went by way faster than the first and from what I am told each goes faster and faster. I sure hope not.
Party invite:
We started off the morning with one of James' favorites, strawberry waffles with 2 candles of course. James is not used to having candles in his waffles so he was trying to smell the candle. I forgot to tell him they were unscented. Dad stepped in to keep him from singeing his eyebrows thank goodness!
Party invite:
We started off the morning with one of James' favorites, strawberry waffles with 2 candles of course. James is not used to having candles in his waffles so he was trying to smell the candle. I forgot to tell him they were unscented. Dad stepped in to keep him from singeing his eyebrows thank goodness!
Then the ladies spent most of the day baking and decorating. Fortunately Meme made the cupcakes on Friday (they were delicious by the way...homemade strawberry ones) so all we had to do was decorate them with icing and sprinkles.
I attempted homemade icing and it turned out perfectly but it was alot of work and didn't make enough so we sent Chad to the store for already made icing. We performed a taste test and honestly there was a slight difference but not enough to make up for the effort. Luckily I had some helpers there were alot of cupcakes to ice.
These next few pictures are not great quality. I am not professional photographer (most of you knew that) and obviously still have alot to learn.
It was my first (well second) attempt at making the giant cupcake. Yes I did a practice run a few weeks ago to give me some time to place an order at a bakery if needed. It really was a lot of fun. Most of you know I am not a "cook" but I must admit I was rather impressed with the results.
No trying to smell the candle this time...he knew what to do!
I attempted homemade icing and it turned out perfectly but it was alot of work and didn't make enough so we sent Chad to the store for already made icing. We performed a taste test and honestly there was a slight difference but not enough to make up for the effort. Luckily I had some helpers there were alot of cupcakes to ice.
These next few pictures are not great quality. I am not professional photographer (most of you knew that) and obviously still have alot to learn.
It was my first (well second) attempt at making the giant cupcake. Yes I did a practice run a few weeks ago to give me some time to place an order at a bakery if needed. It really was a lot of fun. Most of you know I am not a "cook" but I must admit I was rather impressed with the results.
No trying to smell the candle this time...he knew what to do!
Party Festivities
So before I get the festivities of the party...We sent Papop and Chad out to run a few quick errands before the party and they came back with this...meet Frankie the Fish
He conveniently sings "Gimme back that Filet of Fish" I know you all have seen the McDonalds commercial. James LOVES the commercial and now loves Frankie the Fish. He loves dancing and singing the song. It is pretty hilarious to watch. I probably heard this song this past weekend atleast 30 times. Thanks Papop!!
Then we moved inside to open some presents. James had tons of gifts to open but he had lots of helpers!
His first drum set...fortunately there is volume control :)
The kids are anxiously awaiting their shot at the pinata...Darby is giving James some last minute tips.
Pinata time with Elmo!
Anna improvised with her scarf other blind fold was not cutting it.
Of course we did not put a blind fold on James only because it was his birthday :)
The pinata was not breaking. It was put together very well so we had to bring in the heavy bat. At this point I became very nervous...
Finally it breaks and the kids rushed in for candy!
James enjoying his first airhead :)
KK and Pop
Papop and Meme
Papa B and Nana came over for the day. So good to see them!
All the kiddos!! James' cousins. They are all so very sweet with James and he loves them to death.
I added this picture mainly to document James' concentration face. The tongue is always out during concentration...someone else I know does the very the same thing! As James gets older the more and more he is just like his daddy!
It was such a fun day and still hard to believe James is 2. We love him to pieces. It meant so much to Chad and I that our family was there and see how much they love him too. On to another year with more new milestones and more excitement!
He conveniently sings "Gimme back that Filet of Fish" I know you all have seen the McDonalds commercial. James LOVES the commercial and now loves Frankie the Fish. He loves dancing and singing the song. It is pretty hilarious to watch. I probably heard this song this past weekend atleast 30 times. Thanks Papop!!
Chad and I gave James this Radio Flyer tricycle for his birthday. It was a hit and provided for some entertainment for everyone while family arrived.
Then we moved inside to open some presents. James had tons of gifts to open but he had lots of helpers!
His first drum set...fortunately there is volume control :)
The kids are anxiously awaiting their shot at the pinata...Darby is giving James some last minute tips.
Pinata time with Elmo!
Anna improvised with her scarf other blind fold was not cutting it.
Of course we did not put a blind fold on James only because it was his birthday :)
The pinata was not breaking. It was put together very well so we had to bring in the heavy bat. At this point I became very nervous...
Finally it breaks and the kids rushed in for candy!
James enjoying his first airhead :)
KK and Pop
Papop and Meme
Papa B and Nana came over for the day. So good to see them!
All the kiddos!! James' cousins. They are all so very sweet with James and he loves them to death.
I added this picture mainly to document James' concentration face. The tongue is always out during concentration...someone else I know does the very the same thing! As James gets older the more and more he is just like his daddy!
It was such a fun day and still hard to believe James is 2. We love him to pieces. It meant so much to Chad and I that our family was there and see how much they love him too. On to another year with more new milestones and more excitement!
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