When Daddy's away, the Princesses will play...

In case you were wondering what Lucy and I do all day while Jeff is at work.

Just your average play date...

As I woke up this morning and prepared for my day I was not planning on blogging about our play date today. However, as you will see, this was not your typical play date so I decided to share. Enjoy!

So a weeks ago one of my very best friends and I began planning out 1st play date of the summer. She recently moved to Hartsville and as you know, we recently moved to Aiken so we are now about 3 hours away from each other. :( Boo!! But thanks to my new job, we are free to plan fun dates for our kids. We decided to meet at Saluda Splash (see link below) at Saluda Shoals in Irmo because it's about half way and this allowed her to pick up the worlds best babysitter who doesn't live far from the park. (Don't take my word for it; ask the random children who she guided across the monkey bars, chatted with, and even allowed to play with her hair. Seriously. I want one of her. Krissy, I need you. Go USC-A!!! We have a Target. And a Chick-fil-a. And a room with your name on it. Pleeeaaasssseeee???)

Where was I? Oh yes, we decided to meet here. (Sorry no pics of our own wet darlings. As I said, I wasn't planning on sharing this.) Lucy and I got there a little early which was good because she had to serve a little time in time-out for throwing her shoe at me while driving because I didn't get the Veggietales cd on quick enough. (1. This is her new thing- throwing stuff at the driver. 2. She gets in big trouble for this. 3. Any suggestions on how to discipline while driving? 4. She did not to get to listen to Veggietales.) So she sat for 2 minutes and we started playing. Just as Jennifer was getting there, I realized I locked my keys in the car. No problem. I called Jeff and being the sweet, understanding husband that he is, he agrees to bring them. (Thanks Mr.) So we play and talk and have a great time. Jeff brings the keys and we decide to go to pick up lunch and take it to Krissy's (Jennifer's cousin, a.k.a. best babysitter in the world. Please Krissy??) neighborhood pool because it is HOT and the mama's need some relief and frolicing in the sprinklers with 100 preschoolers is probably frowned upon. 20 minutes and 1 Walgreens trip later (for swimmies) we're at Chick-fil-a. (Krissy, Jennifer doesn't have one of these... but we do...keep that in mind.) We're at Chick-fil-a along with a million other people. There is no parking space and we have a 2 year old and a 3 year old who need to "tinkle". Krissy hops out in the drive-thru line with one (bless her) and Jeff finally finds a spot, snatches Lucy (also from the drive-thru line) and takes the other (such a great daddy!). We get our food and we're on our way... after a gas stop. But then, the cops show up. Every 100 feet or so along the side of the road near the woods. Apparently a convict has escaped and they are waiting for him to come out of the woods. We make it safely with no convict sighting (I have to admit, that would have been exciting) and eat our lunch by the pool. By the time lunch is over, we've had 2 tinkle breaks (Lucy goes about every 30 minutes. It's a bit much.), and everyone has their suits on and is ready for the pool, we hear thunder. The whistle blows. We all have to get out of the pool. So we give up and go home.

It was great to catch up and the kids had a blast and were oblivious to the chaos. Let's do it again soon, Jenn! Minus the locked keys, escaped cons, and rain. Everything else was good. Oh, and more Kara, please.

Happy Father's Day!

Lucy has a wonderful daddy who invents fun games to play, sings silly songs that always make her smile, has introduced her to Carebears (his personal childhood favorite), and gives good balance to her mommy's structured way of doing things. To show how much she loves him, she wanted to pick out a gift all by herself to show him just how much she cares... or, her mommy couldn't come up with a great Daddy's Day gift. One of the two. So instead of buying something silly, say a tie, I decided that Lucy would get free reign of Target and could pick anything in the store. We talked about this plan for a few days so that she had time to process the concept. Each time I said, "We're going to go to Target so you can pick out a present to show Daddy how much you love him" she would say, "I want pink present for Daddy". Right before we left to go she said, "I buy pink present for Daddy AND Lucy". I prepared myself for a fight and gently explained the reason for buying Daddy a gift and that she is not a daddy and doesn't get a gift for Father's Day. So we get to Target and after spending 5 minutes deciding between the regular shopping cart and the jumbo size, 2-seater kids cart, we were on our way. (We chose the regular cart. Thanks Lucy!) We followed our usual route starting with women's clothes, moved on to shoes, then to men's clothes. I held up a nice-looking shirt to which she said, "It not pink, Mommy. Daddy want pink present." So we continued our adventure to toys, seasonal, home, kid's clothes, food, health and beauty, and finally electronics. (I told you she could choose anything in the store.) As we went through the aisles, I would ask, "Do you see anything Daddy would like?". She chose many items along the way:

- pink pig travel neck pillow

- bike helmet with spikey mohawk and ears

- pool swimmies

- Leap Frog dinosaur alphabet toy

- transformer

- race car display (not 1 race car; the entire display)

- Simpson's drinking glasses (I am so thankful she didn't make these her final choice)

- a Barbie doll she called "Barbara"

- a baby doll (surprise, surprise)

- a stuffed dog

- an owl pillow (I was kind of hoping she would pick this because I can't find her decorative pillow for her room and her bed needs one.)

And the winner is...

The Play Dough Ice Cream set! Not a bad choice. She loves playing Play Dough with her daddy and this little contraption really makes it look like ice cream. She was quite excited to tell him about it too. When she saw him later that afternoon (for the 1st time in a week) she said, "We buy you Play Dough; wanna play, Daddy? Mommy, where Play Dough? Daddy wanna play."

I also let her pick the cards. She did pretty well with Jeff's. It said something about Father's Day and his princess. My dad's was also pretty good after I changed the part about drinking a lot of beer to drinking a lot of Gatorade. Jeff's dad, however. Well, his began with "Cousin" and ended with "Happy Birthday". 2 out of 3 isn't bad.

I'd say Lucy learned a little bit about Father's Day and how to choose gifts for the ones we love.

Maybe next year we'll learn about keeping secrets.

Happy Father's Day... a week late :(

Couponing Basics

A few friends have inquired about my couponing method so I thought I would share it with the world. I sent an email to a couple of girls a few months ago that covered my method and was just going to post that email, however, it is nowhere to be found so I'll start from the beginning. I hope you find this helpful!

Let me begin by saying that I do not consider myself an Extreme Couponer (As Seen On TV) nor would anyone consider me a hoarder. I use what I like to call "The Working Woman's Way to Coupon". Although I am no longer working I will pretty much stick to this method as I do not want to spend all of my new found time couponing, nor do I have the space (or desire) to stockpile a bomb shelter that could feed a small country for 20 years. I am feeding a family of 5 (dogs included) and buy accordingly.

Where to get coupons and how to organize them:

I get most of my coupons from the Sunday paper. There are also websites you can go to and print coupons and I'll explain how I do that later. I don't search for coupons for every product I buy. I also pick up store coupons each time I go to the grocery store. Every grocery store does their coupons differently. I shop at Publix and they have coupon flyers throughout the month and seasonally located towards the front of the store or at the customer service counter. Go online to see how your store does coupons.

Each Sunday when the paper comes, I pull out the coupon flyers. You will generally find Red Plum, SmartSource, and Proctor and Gamble (on the 1st Sunday of the month) in your paper. Take all of the flyers out but DO NOT clip a coupon. Instead, purchase a cute 3-ring binder (about an inch or bigger), some dividers with pockets (I have 12), and one of those small accordion file things (see below for a picture; I don't know what they are called.) Put the date on the front of each flyer and slide it into one of the divider pockets.

My coupon binder with pocket dividers

My small accordion file thing. I got this in the $1 section at Target. When I see coupons in the little blinkie machines around the grocery store, I grab one or 2 (save some for fellow couponers, please) and put it in the back pocket. Jenny references the blinkie machines on the website so I know just where to look when I need 1.

There are many different ways you can organize your coupons. I like doing it this way because I don't waste time clipping coupons I'll never use, but by all means research other ways to organize coupons and do what works best for you.

Making your list and clipping coupons:

When I'm ready to make my grocery list, I get my couponing bag containing my coupon binder, my accordion file thing, scissors, and my computer. Usually I make my list on Tuesday night because the weekly Publix sales begin on Wednesdays and if you don't get there quick, all of the good stuff is gone and you have to get rain checks. (Although, I'm told that the seniors in Aiken are a bit vicious with their motorized wheelchairs on Wednesdays so I may have to switch to Thursdays in order to survive the grocery trip.)

I go to southernsavers.com and click on the Publix tab. (Every grocery store in the southeast has a tab. Choose your favorite or the one in your area.) Jenny, the girl who runs this site, lists all of the items on sale and matches them to the coupons so I don't have to go through the ad and search all of my coupons myself. She also only list items that are true deals. Oftentimes stores will list an item in their ad at the regular price and people will buy it just because it was in the ad and they think it's on sale. By using this site I don't have to wonder if I am truly getting a good deal. She also tells if you can find an item at another store that week on a better sale. The deals are the same for all stores in the southeast (Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, etc.).

So, I find the posting for the current weekly ad and start my list. I first look at the product to determine if it's something I want. I don't need cat food so I don't even need to bother looking at how much I'll save if I buy it (this also helps me not become a hoarder). If it's a product I know I'll use or I think I may like to try I look at the next line where the coupon match-ups are listed. If there is a little blue box with an "s" in it, that means it's a store coupon. If it's a little red box with an "m" in it, it's a manufacturers coupon. Next to the box you'll see the value of the coupon (ex. $.40/1 = $.40 off 1 item) and where you can find the coupon (ex. SS 6/5 = The SmartSource ad from June 5th). Use this information to determine where to find your coupon (go to the June 5th ad and look for the coupon for the product) and how much you'll save. FYI: Most stores double coupons up to a certain amount. Publix in my area doubles coupons up to $.50 so for that 1 $.40 off coupon, I'm actually getting $.80 off. When I find the coupon, I clip it and set it aside then click the little check box to the left of the listing to add it to my list that will be printed when I'm finished. I do this for each item listed. It may sound like it would take a while to go through every item in a weekly ad but it really doesn't and it's worth the time. Coupons vary by region so sometimes Jenny lists coupons I don't have or my coupons are for different values, but for the most part they match up. She also lists coupons that can be printed from other sites and gives the link so all you have to do is click the link and print. Sometimes you have to register on the site to get the coupon. I generally don't do printable coupons just because it takes more time and I do well without them but now that I have more time I may start. If you do decide to print coupons, I recommend only printing coupons you know you will use. Otherwise you waste ink and paper printing so you cost yourself more money.

When you get to the bottom of the list, click on "Print Shopping List" and a page will come up with only the items you selected with the coupon match-ups. I usually make my list on my phone because there is a little red "x" to the right of the listing that allows me to delete the item once I have put it in my cart at the store. This way I'm not fumbling with coupons, paper, and a pen while shopping. Once you have made your list and collected your coupons, put them in your accordion file thing (oh, what is that darn thing called?). You will take this with you when you go shopping. I have mine labeled with the different stores I shop at so only one store's coupons go in it's corresponding slot. That way if I'm going to 2 different stores in 1 day I don't get confused.

Notice that your entire shopping list is only from what's on sale. Buying only sale items cuts your bill tremendously and using the coupons makes it even better. This is how you get $.05 brownies or even better, get paid to take things out of the store!!! The goal is to stock up on the things you use regularly when they are on sale so you get them at the best deal. Now, this is where hoarding and stockpiling get confused. Products will go on sale again. You don't have to buy out the entire store just because brownies are $.05. I promise you won't die if you miscalculated how many boxes you needed to get you from sale to sale and run out. Also, similar products will go on sale in the meantime so you may get Juicy Juice on sale one week and Ocean Spray the next. Sales run in cycles although the cycles vary depending on the item- some 6 weeks, some 12 weeks. I usually only buy what I can get with my coupons. So if I only have a coupon for $.40 off 1 (really $.80 off) then I'll only buy 1. Or, if I don't have a coupon at all and something is BOGO free, I buy 1 and get it half off because BOGO free is really 50% off 1 item (this varies by area so you'll need to find out your stores coupon policy).

Your grocery bill may go up when you first start couponing because you'll be buying the things you absolutely need for that week and the sale things to start your stockpile. If I notice I'm getting low on something, say toilet paper or pull-ups, then I start watching all of the sales at the stores I frequent. Different stores run different sales at different times so if you miss one at one store, check another.

Using your stockpile:

When it's time to think about what we will eat for dinner, I go to the pantry and see what I have. I may have gotten spaghetti sauce 1 week, noodles the next, and salad this week so it took me a few weeks to actually get one meal, but it's ok because I have options from my other shopping trips in previous weeks. Sometimes, if it's a slow deal week and I'm only spending $25 or so on our weekly groceries (I only spend $26 on all of our groceries last week!), I'll choose a cookbook recipe and buy those ingredients also. I also plan ahead and have a few recipes in mind so I can watch the items I need and get them when they are on sale. Once you have a good stockpile, you'll have plenty of options. It just takes some time (usually about 6 weeks) to get there.

Helpful resources:

This girl did a 6-week coupon class on her blog and I highly recommend watching it. I linked the first week's lesson so you'll need to scroll through to find each subsequent week but they aren't far from each other so it won't be hard. (And you'll get to see pics from her trip to Carlos' Bakery during your search. Sounds fun, right?! No, I don't know this girl. Is that weird? Don't answer that.)

Jenny at Southern Savers does live coupon classes for $10 a class. You can look on the website for scheduled classes in your area or contact her if you have an organization that would like to hold a class. It is worth way more than $10 and you'll be amazed at all she can tell you. I happen to notice a post this week that looked like she may be giving a weekly coupon lesson online so you may want to explore the website a little and see what you can find.

In my email to my friends, I listed an actual grocery list for a week but this post is long enough as it is so I haven't done that. If you have specific questions, let me know. If you would like to see my shopping list, post your email address and I'll email it to you.

Happy saving!!!

Oh, and just to prove I'm not a hoarder...

My entire food stockpile. It all fits in my pantry with room to grow. I know it's hard to see everything but each row is organized by food: breakfast/snack, baking, dinners/cooking. I had EXTRA room in my pantry so I've stored other things in there as well. On the floor I keep paper towels, extra juice, and anything else that doesn't quite fit on the shelf with its friends. Right now I have an abundance of sugar in case a neighbor or 50 need to borrow a cup of sugar. (Or because I was stocking 2 houses for 2 months and I lost track and sugar was $.99 at Bi-lo and I had coupons and only paid $.20 for 5lb bags.)

Product Review and a Recipe

You may (or may not) have noticed that I have never posted a recipe on here. There are 3 very good reasons for this- All of the recipes I use: come from a cookbook or someone else, come out of a box, or come out of a frozen package. Obviously I can't post someone else's recipe and you guys can buy your own packaged stuff. I am not a great cook but I do know how to follow directions so that serves me pretty well in the kitchen. However, in all of my new stay-at-home-mom glory I've had time to think about the important things in life like, "what's for dinner?". The other night I got a little creative so I thought I would share.

Disclaimer: Before you think I'm going to share something ground-breaking and solve all of your dinner worries for the next year, take a deep breath and remember Kraft Macaroni is my favorite food ever so my standards are pretty low.

A few weeks ago I bought some of this

I'm not a fan of cream cheese so I wasn't sure if I would like it, but it was buy one get one free and I had a coupon which made it $.25 so I thought I would give it a try.

A couple of weeks later I bought this on sale

I had some frozen broccoli on hand. Add some cooked pasta (I used bow tie and corkscrew because we like to keep things interesting here at the Pruitt's... or maybe I get this weird thrill out of emptying a container and throwing it away.) Put it all together and you have a meal.

Quick, easy, and edible. The Pruitt's give it 2 thumbs up...

When I use this stuff again (notice I didn't say "if") I may add some garlic and some red peppers or carrots because a colorful plate is a pretty plate (and healthier too).

(I'm feeling just a bit like this girl right about now...)

For dessert, (and I add this only to rub it in for all of the coupon-haters) brownie cookies! For the price a non-couponer would pay for a box of brownies ($2.09 not including tax), I could have bought 41 boxes of brownies. Notice I said "could have" not "did". (I only bought 2 boxes; I'm not fulfilling everyone in Aiken's chocolate need.) For all of you mathematically challenged friends out there, (my hand is waving wildly in the air) I paid $.05 for 1 box of brownies. (Thanks Publix for BOGO Free deals and Duncan Hines for coupons!) So critical coupon basher, enjoy your expensive, overpriced brownies. I sure enjoyed my cheap ones!

My Wakeup Call

This is how Lucy decided to wake me up this morning...

"Mommy, I want out. I want out, Mommy, MOMMY!!!"

**This is a reenactment. Yes, Lucy chose her own pj's tonight.**

My 2 year old thinks she's homeless

My conversation with Lucy this evening on the way to Aiken went a little something like this...

Lucy: Where's our home, Mommy.

Me: In Aiken baby; that's where we're going right now.

Lucy: No, I not have a home.

Me: Yes Lucy; you have 2 homes but we won't be staying at the Columbia house anymore. We''ll stay in the Aiken house from now on.

Lucy: With Daddy; all together???

Me: Yep! All together.

Lucy: YAY, YAY, YAY!

Poor kid! I'm hoping she will block these last 4 confusing months out of her memory. As of today, we officially live in Aiken! Finally!

Saying my goodbyes

After what was, by far, one of the absolute most stressful weeks at work, I can finally say goodbye to:

Medicaid- Oh how I hate how you pile up and become that one chore that I seriously dread doing.

Scheduling meetings- I mean really, what in life is more difficult than coordinating 4-10 different people's schedules?

Waking up early- Yes, I know I will now be waking up to work with a 2 year old and we all know 2 year old's don't exactly sleep in, but she is usually still asleep when I leave for work so an extra hour or so will be fantastic.

Eating leftovers. Every day. For 3 years straight.

Being called "Mrs.Pruitt". Even by other teachers. It's just weird.

Middle school drama- I'm sorry, but the girl that you hate because your ex-boyfriend once gave her a pencil having the same shirt as you is just not a big deal. It's just not.

13 year olds walking around like 25 year old "ladies of the evening"- Did their mom's really let them out of the house like that or did they change at school? And how can a 6th grader be more developed, we'll say, than a 26 year old. I don't get it.

8th grade "Graduation"- This really gets on my nerves. Especially when the 8th graders wear cocktail dresses and tuxes and their parents bring flowers and "Class of 2011" balloons. Really people? No wonder young people today (yes, I am 80, thank you very much) don't feel the need to graduate from high school. "I graduated from 8th grade; doesn't that count?" One student even asked, "Where's my diploma?" Hmmmm college, my friend!

And the absolute one thing that I am so glad to get away from...

This is NOT an actual student of mine.

Middle school attitudes! I promise, if you are getting in trouble it's not because I don't like you, I'm picking on you, or I'm just out to get someone today and you were the 1st person I saw. It's probably because you weren't doing what you were supposed to be doing. I know, this is shocking!

Please don't get me wrong. I really did like my job. But these are those annoying little things that come with the territory that I just won't miss.

As for my first week at my new job... FABULOUS!!! Here's what I'm waking up to each day...

Not a bad trade off, I'd say.