My Savings

Just a small post about the deals I got this week. I scored with CVS! I was able to get many things with my ECBs. I got toothpaste, shampoo, Gatorade, lip gloss, nail polish, and CONTACT SOLUTION!!!! All of this was F R E E !!!! My mom was able to get gifts for Michael and Madison for free because she used her ECBs.



I was able to drag Phillip out at 4:30am Friday morning to Wal-Mart and Wal-Greens to buy gifts. I was very grateful because now we only have a couple of things more to buy and we will be D O N E!!!! Now to wrap and put the Christmas decorations up!

Thanksgiving Play and Thankfulness

Our church had a Thanksgiving play with the children. All of the kids did great. The thing is...I forgot that my kids had to dress like Pilgrims. I remembered Saturday night AFTER I was in bed. We were running around Sunday morning trying to figure out what they were going to wear. I ended up cutting some black cloth and pinning it around the waists of Madison and Melanie for skirts. Michael already had black pants (in the washer, so you know I was rushing to get them dried) and a white shirt. Michael also sported the Amish hat that Phillip bought while in PA this year. The girls wore their bonnets they bought while we were on vacation. The play turned out wonderful. I was really thankful the church did the play because the kids have never gotten to participate in a Thanksgiving play and that was one thing I did enjoy when I was young and in school.

Here's the Mayflower and all the Pilgrims arriving from England

My three little Saints, I mean Pilgrims. At least their not Strangers!

The feast with the Pilgrims and Indians. They were very thankful for their paper bag turkey and plastic fruit and veggies....YUM YUM YUM!

There was something funny that happened. The black cloth that I pinned around the girls began the slip off. Madison just pulled her cloth up and held it, but Melanie didn't seem to know what to do. She looked at me as the Mayflower rounded a corner and yelled, "Mama, my thing is coming off!" Once she got on stage she just turned to me and kept looking as if to say, "DO SOMETHING!" I kept mouthing the words, "It's ok." Finally she said, "NO, it's not." She said this in a rather loud voice. I don't think too many people heard it, but it was really funny. Well, it WAS my mistake for not preparing their costumes earlier!

Thanksgiving Day was laid back. We had grandparents over and 1 other friend. The kids took a walk in the woods after dinner. We all ate too much, but the turkey sandwich yesterday was really good!

I am thankful for many things this year. I guess with all the happenings in the past couple of years it has made me more thankful for my family, health, Phillip's job, our church, and most of all the peace that the Lord has given me.

CVS Black Friday Deals

Moneysavingmom has posted on her site all the F R E E deals at CVS for black friday. The GREAT news is that the deals begin tomorrow (THANKSGIVING DAY). There will be lots and lots of free things for free if you already have ECBs. If you don't have any ECBS, you can just buy the items and receive them back and use them on something else. There also are many things that have coupons and you can actually "make money". CVS doesn't really give you any money back, but you can get other things in the transaction and it will help keep the cost down.

Click HERE to go to moneysavingmom's blog

Anyone seen a great sale lately?

I haven't seen many great sales lately, have you? Maybe I have lost my zeal to find a great deal? I do have a good stockpile, so if I can't find something that is F R E E, I usually don't get it! However, I am listing a few things that I think are worthy of the trip. All those contact wearers out there need to take advantage of the CVS deal for sure!

CVS
complete multi-purpose solution $8.99 get $8.99 back in ECBs!

Don't forget the November monthly deal. Crest Pro-Health Whitening Toothpaste 4.2 oz $3.49 and get $3.49 ECBs back. (limit 2)

WAL-GREENS
Werther's Original Candy on sale B1G1 free 2 for $2.29 stack with coupon from December easy saver book along with the coupon here or here they will be free and you will get $.71 in overage!

Exedrin B1G1 free 2 for $4.49 use the coupon here and pay just $.24


WAL-MART
Betty Crocker Potatoes use coupon here and pay $.49 or less There are also manufacturing coupons out for this product.

Muri Glen tomatoes on the cheap if you use the $1.00 coupons here and here

The steamers coupons for Green Giant can be used and you will only have to pay $.23 for a bag of veggies

Progresso soup 3/$2.00 use the coupon here and it will be F R E E You can print the coupon two times

Whole Wheat Gold Medal Flour will be $1.76 after you use the coupon from here

Vlassic pickles or relish can be free or nearly free with the coupon from here

Old El Paso taco seasoning will be about $.17 if you use the coupon from here

Campbells Cream Soups are suppose to be on sale for $.60 and there are coupons out there also

FOOD LION
Ritz is on sale B1G1 use the coupon here to get them even cheaper
Fresh green beans are $1.29 lb
Sweet Potatoes $.29 lb
Cool Whip 2/$2.00

Food Lion also has their own coupon printables, but I have never used them. Some seem to get great deals with these coupons though. I need to try it one day.

A Cooking Day

Melanie is a member of 4-H and she has a project to do. She picked cooking as her project, so for the meeting in December she will have to present her project to the other 4-H members. I decided to go ahead and begin to assist her with her work. We seem to always be busy around here, but we did have a few hours to spare on a cold Saturday afternoon. We took many, many, many pictures of her making peanut butter cookies( I really wanted to post them, but I thought maybe that would be a little boring to you). She also learned some safety rules and was also reminded of many. She already knows a few things in the kitchen due to her helping me often anyway. Once the pictures are printed, she will make a book and each page will be each step that she had to do in order to make the cookies. The steps include her safety tips also. Oh, and I also need to give credit to Madison, she was the one who took most of the pictures of Melanie and did a FANTASTIC job!

Melanie with all the ingredients and utensils when
making yummy easy peanut butter cookies

Melanie and Madison both agree that it's more fun to share what you
bake. Madison really enjoys helping in the kitchen too. She told me she enjoyed cooking better than gymnastics. I couldn't believe it!!

Here's the recipe

Mix

1 cup peanut butter

1 egg

1 cup sugar

Roll into 1 inch balls flatten with a sugared fork. Place in a 400 degree oven and bake 8-10 minutes. By the way, we tried the oven this hot and it works a lot better on 350! Our first batch were a little burned!

A WOMAN OF STRENGTH

A strong woman works out everyday to keep her body in shape...but a woman of strength kneels in prayer to keep her soul in shape.

A strong woman isn't afraid of anything...but a woman of strength shows courage in the midst of her fear.

A strong woman won't let anyone get the best of her...but a woman of strength gives the best of herself to everyone.

A strong woman walks surefootedly...but a woman of strength knows God will catch her when she falls.

A strong woman wears the look of confidence on her face...but a woman of strength wears grace.

A strong woman has faith that she is strong enough for the journey...but a woman of strength has faith that it is in the journey that she will become strong.

Please pray for all women....let them see the grace in being a woman of strength.

Author unknown


I wanted to share this with all the women in my life today. This was shared in my Sunday School class this morning and I wanted to pass it along.

A Gymnastics Meet

Today Madison had a gymnastic's meet and did very well! This was her second meet. She started a couple of years ago taking gymnastics and the hard work is really paying off. We are so proud of her. We don't stress being THE BEST. We just stress DOING your best and giving it your all. She got a medal and a few awards. Balance Point received their first trophy, YEAH, GO BALANCE POINT!!

Madison with her coaches, Ms. Carrie and Ms. Anna

THE TEAM

FLOOR ROUTINE
BEAM ROUTINE (her best score was on this)

Madison also performed on bars and vault. She did well on these also. I am just really glad she wants to do something like this. I was always so scared of trying things when I was growing up.

WAY TO GO MADISON!!!

A GiveAway

Centsible Sawyer always has something up her sleeve and is giving away. You need to head on over there and try to win the $50.00 gift card from Wal-Mart. Click here to get to her great money saving site.

Black Friday Sales

Wal-Mart's black friday ad has leaked out, so I thought I would pass it along! Click here to see the sale and be ready at 5:00am next Friday to take advantage of the deals. GOOD LUCK!

A Ladies Mountain Retreat

10 of the ladies from my church went to Helen Ga this past weekend. We had a great time. We really didn't do a lot, but we learned a lot from each other and shared a lot. I don't think I have ever laughed that much in two days. Words can not explain the feelings we had looking out across the mountain and knowing God created it all.

4bedroom/4bathroom cabin with a jacuzzi

We went to Ana Ruby Falls, but only 4 of us could
make it all the way up the mountain. It was
beautiful. This is part of the falls

This is in downtown Helen Ga

The fantastic 10