Vocation of Motherhood

What I Accomplished Today....

• Kept six kids (not all mine) and an adorable baby occupied inside the house (mostly) during the rainy day
• Went on a walk when it wasn't raining...
• Rescued a baby turtle while on my walk
• On the way home, felt sad about the baby turtle's sibling that apparently didn't make it across the road
• Mopped the floor
• Scrubbed down the bathroom
• Put two loads of laundry away
• Made two meals of chicken and dumplings
• Made buttermilk biscuits
• Cleaned the Curious George tea set
• Got milk and other necessary groceries with two of the six kids in tow
• Started "Into Great Silence" and eventually had to escape it (although it's great, really!)
• Read about two pages of "O Pioneers!" before baby woke up
• Got the tote bags ordered for school (thanks to Dawn's inspiration)

More Summer Plans

Here is an update of our summer plans:

Spend almost every afternoon at the pool
Baseball practice twice a week
Landscaping
Put in the garden
Make reservation for one night in Duluth for this festival (we are so excited!)

Hope your summer is full of fun and excitement!

Summer Plans 2008

• Afternoons at the pool and on the river with the rope swing
• Spanish Camp
• Agate Day
• Blue Knights Feast
• Summer Reading Program @ the library
• Baseball
• Book club retreat
• Plenty of fishing
• Get-together with Tracy and her brood
• Old Tyme Country School
• Visit to Split Rock Lighthouse
• Native American Study (Iroquois Indians)
  
  • Create a longhouse 
  • Make a lapbook or other notebook
  • Craft Day with other families: make possible bags and water drums
  • Fieldtrip to NW Fur Post OR Mille Lacs Indian Museum
  • Celebrate with festival/children's presentations (building a teepee and canoeing!)

And around the house:

• Landscaping
• Finish painting the house
• Start staining the deck (I power-washed the porch tonight to get ready for book club next week!)
• Put up clothesline

Here is a sign of future things to come....

 

Walgreens Shopping Trip

Have you ever seen a bunch of items that people get for "free" and think, "Yeah, right! Or, "Maybe it can be done but I just have that kind of time!" Well, I'm proof that it can be done and it doesn't need to take a lot of time.

I first learned about this from a great frugal lady named Naomi who spoke to our local MOPS group a couple of years ago. She really intrigued me, even though I was very skeptical about all of the "free" stuff she was getting.

Fast forward a couple of years. I read again about the CouponMom.com website and decided to give it a more serious look. So I've been saving coupons from the Sunday paper (which is the essential part of any savings program) and then combining the coupons with sales and the Walgreens rebate program. I've also been going to Target with some success.

I did make one major mistake during this shopping trip with the Colgate toothpaste, but one cannot expect perfection when first getting started! I was still happy with the outcome and I have a few blogs to thank for inspiration and information (more on that later).

First, I purchased all of this for 16.41 (not showing is a Hallmark card for my mother-in-love's birthday. Spendy, but worth it!). Here is the breakdown:

What I actually bought out of pocket:

• (2 Items) Almay Mascara Make-up (with free black eyeliner) AND a brown eyeliner (most expensive item) BOGO with $1 coupon-Final cost- $6.49 for BOTH (yay!)
  
• Hallmark Card (not shown) - $3.59
• All Free & Clear-Clearanced @ 3.89 w/ $1 coupon-Final Cost- $2.89
• Colgate Toothpaste 2.99 with $1.00 coupon: 2.00
• *Note: Toothpaste should have been free if I had purchased TWO and then used the rebate, but I forgot and just bought one. Lesson learned: look at my notes more carefully!
  
• Electrosol (pictured behind the Buddies soap) $2.99- 1.00 rebate - 1.00 coupon-Final Cost $1.00
• Skintimate Shaving Cream .99-.55 coupon Final Cost .44

Total Spent: 16.41

Free Items After Rebate:

• Walgreen Lightbulbs (1.69, free after rebate!)
• Oral-B CrossAction Toothbrush - $4.99 Use $1/1 coupon from 4/6 insert Free plus $1 overage after rebate
• Walgreens Maxi Pads 12 or 24 pack - $1.99
  Free after rebate
• Pert Plus Shampoo- 3.49 plus $1.00 coupon, free after rebate

Two Johnson's Products that were free were actually from Target:

• Buddies Soap (the boys love it) .94 and free after 1.00 coupon
• Band-Aid Travel Kit in the travel size section- .99 and free after 1.00 coupon (we have four boys so band-aids are an essential in this home!)

Now before you say it, I know what you are going to think:"That's all fine, but she probably won't remember to either 1)fill out all the rebate forms AND send them in or 2)even if she does get it filled out it might not be claimed in time.

Last month I used the Walgreen Easy Saver Rebate program for the first time and was really astonished at how easy it was. Simply go online and with a few clicks you claim the rebates and hit submit. Walgreens will send you your first gift card with your rebate on it as a credit or you can get a check in the mail. But why would you want too, I want to know, when if you receive a Walgreen gift card they will automatically add an extra 10% to your rebate total as their "thank you" to you! They make it very simple to use the rebate program and they don't make you jump through a bunch of hurdles to get your money. I've always like shopping at Walgreens because I don't have to walk five miles through the store to pick up some toilet paper. Now I love it even more! All I have to say is, if you have an internet connection and you are literate, you can do this!

Here are some websites for more information if you're interested:
Money Saving Mom
CouponMom.com
Freebies4Mom

Happy Saving and thanks for sharing in my frugal joy!

The Simple Woman's Daybook-May 13th

FOR TODAY (May 13th)...

Outside My Window... rain, rain, go away, come again another day

I am thinking... of my beautiful oldest boy

I am thankful for... my oldest boy, who is celebrating a birthday!

From the kitchen... Chicken Stew with dumplings from Cook's Illustrated

I am wearing... baggy pants and a comfy black shirt

I am creating... a bond with my nursling, who is in the throes of teething!

I am going... to the cities on Thursday and trying to gear up for the trip!

I am reading... Little Pear (for the boys), Dwelling, The Golden Thread

I am hoping... that Daddy will get home at an early hour (and he did!)

I am hearing... the soft snoring of baby boy as he finally sleeps and                 Aristocats in the back living room

Around the house... things are cluttered, but getting better!

One of my favorite things... bar pan cookies with Guittard chocolate!

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week: finish China lapbook, work on Latin, register for conference, present talk on MOPS, journal, de-clutter countertop, work through the to-do list, work on Elizabeth Ministry bulletin board and pre-plan dinner for Thursday.

Here is picture thought I am sharing...


"He ain't heavy, he's my brother!"