New Landscaping

The curly hazlenut bush has been slowly dying, so it was time to dig it up and redo the landscaping. It took a whole day to get that stump dug out.


Success!!!

Here's the new design.

Big Apple Adventure

The kids are having a great time at VBS this week. Clara was chosen to be helper in leading the singing and Nicholas quoted his memory verse in front of the whole group yesterday!

Free stuff at Target

Today, I picked up 3 packs of pens and 2 packs of Post-it notes for FREE!!! The way to get FREE stuff at Target is to stack a Target coupon with a manufacturer coupon.

Happy Birthday, John!

John with his birthday milkshake at Red Robin.


Nicholas and Clara got cheese pizza.

Later on, John opened cards made by Nicholas and Clara on the computer.

Time for presents...

...and dessert

fudge

brownies

ice cream sundaes

Yay for Meijers

The deal this week is buy 10 select items for $10 and get the 11th free. Here's what we brought home:

• 12 boxes of Hamburger Helper, after coupons $0.50/each


• 6 cans Dole tropical fruit, after coupons $0.50/each


• 4 packs of pudding, after coupons $0.50/each


• 2 Mac & Cheese, FREE after coupons


• 3 Chex Mix, FREE after coupons


• 3 Sour cream, FREE after coupons


• 3 cucumbers, FREE (I planned for them to ring up as the 11th item since I didn't have coupons for them.)

The retail price for these items would have been $51.76. They were on sale for $30 and I spent $11 a 79% savings.

County Fair

Clara with Molly (one of my students) and her horse.


Nicholas enjoys looking at the collections.

This one's for you, Erika!

Cooling off with milkshakes at Steak & Shake.

Musical Morning

We just thought we would give you a little sneack peek at Clara practicing her new pieces. Can you guess which one is her favorite?

Bach - Invention in F-Major

Mozart- Alla Turca

Schumann - Knecht Ruprecht

Cool in the Pool

Today was the perfect day for a dip in the pool. Clara even swam several lengths of the pool without Schwimmfluegel today! Thanks, Elizabeth for hosting us!!!

Thank You

Here's what came in the mail yesterday, a mini canning set, perfect for my stove top. After much researching and deliberation this is what I purchased with my birthday and amazon money. Thank you, everyone!

Veggies, etc.

Cute Cuces.


Basil gone wild!

Tomatoes...can't wait to make a tomato basil pizza...yum!

Here's an example of laziness that paid off. Thomas dug up a mini crepe myrtle tree for us when we were visiting in April. It didn't do well and we thought all hope was lost. Many times I (Monica) was going to throw it out, but am glad my laziness prevented me. In the last several weeks it has been putting up new shoots with healthy and happy green leaves.

Fun with Flowers

Stocking up at Kroger

This week Kroger has some great markdowns. I carefully matched them up with my coupons and here's what I got:

I paid $19.20 for $85.52 worth of groceries. A $66.32 savings or 78%. I was pretty excited!

Deals at CVS

It's a new week, which means new deals. Here's what I picked up at CVS today:

• Pantene conditioner and shampoo $3.97 plus $2.00 Extra Care Bucks


• 2 Leever 2000 soap $0.44/each


• 2 Oral-B toothbrushes $0.99/each plus $2.00 ECB (I made $0.02!!)


• 2 Crest toothpaste $1.24/each plus $2.00 ECB

This purchase cost $8.07 out of pocket and I received a total of $6.00 ECB toward future purchases.

Jedi Training

The force is strong with this one!

Freezer Cooking

This morning I cooked up 3 lbs. of ground beef with taco seasoning to be used for tacos, taco salad and casseroles.


I made two casseroles of Chichen Tetrazzini. One for dinner this evening and the other for the freezer.

I was also able to put together 20 breakfast burritos. You can find the recipe here. I substituted the ham for sausage since I was able to get a great deal on it.

Target Deals

For all you Target shoppers with $0.52 to spare:

Get a pillow for $0.50 with a $2.00 off coupon.
Get Paper Mate pens for $0.02 with a $1.00 off coupon.
You can also get 2 Sharpies for FREE with a $1.00 off coupon.
Click here for the coupons.

Pancakes

After a week of cleaning out at Grammy's I've been trying to catch up at home. On Saturday
morning I made a double batch of these whole-wheat chocolate chip pancakes. I used my new griddle that I purchased at Kohl's (with a 30% off coupon!) for about $15.00.




Here are the leftover pancakes cooling on the rack (Thank you, Erika!). I froze them and now when the kids want pancakes for breakfast I can pull a couple out and heat them up in the microwave.

Grammy's Lilies

I hadn't been to Grammy's garden for a LONG time and was so disappointed in what I found. After walking around though, there are still definite signs of plants and areas that can be revived. I am so grateful, however, that I was able to transplant many of the lily varieties over the years. In honor of Grammy I am posting all these gorgeous flower pictures that I took in our yard this morning. They are all transplants from Grammy's.