Go Enter!

http://www.momdot.com/?p=887

Not that any of you need this, but what a cool product! Enter to win one by Monday.

Seven Peaks

My sister works for Jerry Steiner who sponsored the Make A Wish Rubber Ducky Derby at Seven Peaks Waterpark today. She was sweet enough to invite me and Olivia along for a fun day of splashing in the water and cheering on some duckies.
Lu and Aunty Jen checking out the kiddie pools.
Goofy girls in the wave pool.
Awww, they sure love each other.

Going into the wave pool.
Splash!
Watching the waves.
Cheering on the final ducks.
Going down the slide.

Posing with the Make A Wish duck.
Isnt she just so cute?!
Her too!
My cool new tattoo.
The duckies.

Almost Over

Well the Olympics are almost over. I am so glad that we have a DVR so that while all the Olympics is recorded we dont have to watch every single event. I have really enjoyed the women's gymnastics, the beautiful rhythmic gymnastics, and synchronized swimming.

My Shopping Trip

So my goal with Olivia starting preschool was that I would do the shopping by myself, now this is a big deal since while I like to save money using coupons I HATE giving them to the cashier which is why Rob shops with us because he doesn't care. I went to Walgreen's and Smiths today and got:

At Walgreen's:
2 packages of sticky notes (.39 cents each)
2 packages of sour lifesaver candy (on sale for $1.39 each, not a super deal but oh so yummy)
3 packages of plastic silverware (.39 cents each)
1 package of 24 permanent markers (on sale for $6.99 and then I had a $3 off coupon)
3 packages of page protectors (.39 cents each)
1 bottle of pert plus ($5.99, they didn't have the free after rebate kind but I used a $2 off coupon so that I could do the buy $5 worth of pert and $5 worth of school supplies get $5 back rebate, so not as good of a deal as I had hoped)
2 dove shampoos (they are buy one get one free and I used a $2 off coupon so total was 2.99 for both)
2 bio organics shampoos (they are $5.99 each but free after Walgreen's rebate)
2 fruit sensations gums (I used a buy 1 get 1 free coupon)
2 packages of razors (I used a buy 1 get 1 free coupon)
and I used a $5 off of a $20 purchase coupon
So my total was 36.61 with a savings of 34.19 not including the 16.98 I will get back from the rebates. Walgreen's didn't have everything I wanted but the employees were very nice today which was much better then my last trip there.

At Smiths
3 jellos and 1 jar of peanuts for 3.26 (I used a buy 3 products save $3 on planters, this can supposedly be done with koolaid packets but I was too chicken to try)
1 angel food cake mix (free using my smiths coupon that came in the mail)
2 buddies soaps (used my $2 off coupon so they were free)
8 juicy juices (on sale for $2.50 each, then I used a $1 off coupon on each plus when you spend $20 on certain products you get an additional $5 off)
5 bags of chocolate chips (on sale for $2.50 each, then I used a .55 cents off coupon on each)
4 pounds of chicken breasts (on sale for $6.96, then I used the $1.75 Smiths coupon that came in the mail)
1 gerber graduates yogurt puffs (I have a mail in rebate to make them free)
1 gerber toddler soup
Now this deal would have been better if I knew how to add better I was about $4 away from getting another $5 off, I guess that is why Rob shops with us!
But I spent $33.86 and saved $31.98 so not bad. Smiths had everything we wanted which was nice, but I didn't see any new rebates in the beer aisle.

Update: Rob laughed at me for not being able to add and when we went back that night to get some yummy fried chicken (which will be free after rebate) he asked customer service if we bought more items if they would adjust our receipt and they were happy to let us do that. So all is well that ends well!

Thanksgiving Point

Tuesdays in August are just $2 a person to get into each venue at Thanksgiving Point so we went to the gardens on Tuesday night. We tried to get a good family picture but our kids were not cooperating plus I didnt take the time to straighten my hair or put on any makeup. The gardens are beautiful but wear bug spray, the kids have a few nasty mosquito bites now.
If Zachary could sit still this one would have been cute!
Sweet girl, playing in the grass.
Not too bad of a picture.
Fun bridge, crazy kids!

Awww, arent we cute?!
Playing in the fountain with Aunty Jen.
Lu smelling the flowers.
Zachy loved sitting up on this arch, the kid has no fear, in fact it was the best smile we got all night!
Not too bad of a picture, with the exception of the random kids running in the background.

Pretty waterfalls.
Rob and Zachy checking out the waterfalls.
Lu checking out the river.
Down by the waterfalls, and a shot of Lu's tummy.
See what a cute family we are, just ignore the crying/pouting children.

Rebates Left

http://rhozhaslam.blogspot.com/2008/08/for-you.html

I have just one of each of these left, so let me know ASAP if you want one!

Children's Musuem

Making bubbles.
Wow thats a big one!
Zachary loves bubbles!
Such a boy, building with legos.

Emma invited us to go with her to the musuem again and of course we said yes! It was another fun filled day. We went upstairs this time, not as fun as the downstairs but the kids did enjoy the helicopter that they have on the balcony outside. The class was on bubbles which of course the kids loved. Olivia again spent a lot of time in the little clubhouse in the little kid area, Zachary enjoyed sitting on the horse, he was not happy when I made him get off.

Finally!!

Zachary was finally old enough to start nursery at church on Sunday. YAY!! Being the kind of kid that he is, he went right in without a glance back at me. I am sure it helps that he (at least for last week) was in Olivia's class but he was so ready to start and we were so ready for him to go! The picture was the best one we could get after church.

Why? Because he is Zachary that is why!

Zachary finds it great fun to crawl up into the little boxes on our shelf, the only bad part is that he cant get back out by himself.

First Day of Preschool

Well sorta, today was just a quick meet the teacher/find the classroom/get out of the house by 9am open house/dry run at Olivia's preschool. She was the second kid in her class and wouldnt you know it the other kid picked the purple cubby so she choose red instead, perhaps because it was right below the purple one! I am wondering if she is taking after my sister and I for the honor of getting to hold the class sign (ie being the shortest kid in the class), every kid I saw come in was quite a big bigger then her. The funniest part of the day was when I sat down to fill out some paperwork and she turned to me and said "you can go now". Ummm, I guess letting go is going much easier for her then for me. She starts her full schedule on Wednesday. And thanks again to Emma for watching Zachary for me!

For You!

I have a few of these rebates, if you are interested please let me know ASAP and then come pick them up promptly.

Save $10 on Steak or Seafood (min. purchase of $10)Compliments of Bud Light Lime. NBPR. Offer valid for residents of AL, AR, CT, HI, KY, MA, ME, MN, MO, NC, NJ, NY, RI, SD, UT, VA and WVPurchase between 6/1/08 – 9/1/08. Received by 9/15/08.

and

Save up to $20 with Miller Lite coupon/rebate booklet. NBPR. Offer valid for residents of KY, ME, MO, UT, and VA. Save $5 after mail in rebate with each total basket purchase of $50 or more (up to 3x this month) excludes tobacco, pharmacy, electronics, appliances, and gift cards. Plus there are $5 worth of coupons in the booklet. Purchase between 8/01/08 and 8/31/08. Postmarked by 9/15/2008.

And if you would like to see how I use coupons and get freebies feel free to let me know and we can set up a time for you to see what I do, I will not say I am an expert but we do save a lot of money this way.

Is This Normal?

So we had our energy audit done today ( ThermWise ) and when I told the auditor that we probably did 10+ loads of dishes in the dishwasher a week he looked at me like I was weird and asked "so more then one a day?". Is this not normal?

How are you doing?

Remember to get your food storage item for the week , check out here for more info weekly food storage goals

Here is the list so far:

In case you're joining us late, here's a list of what we've done so far. Each quantity listed is per person, not per family. So multiply everything by the number of people in your family.
Week 1-Oats (instant or regular. Your choice.) 1 big round container (42 oz.) per person.
Week 2-Peanut Butter. 1.5 big jars per person.
Week 3-Flour. 5 lb. bags (2-3 per person)
Week 4-Chocolate chips (6 bags per family)
Baking Cocoa (2 containers per family)
Yeast (2 jars or one 1-pound package per family)

Yay for the Olympics

I so far have really enjoyed the opening ceremony, the swimming, the diving, and of course the gymnastics. It also was inspiring to see the three US flags being raised for the metal ceremony for the women's fencing sweep. Good thing there isnt much on tv during the summer so that we can DVR all the events and then watch what we want once the monkeys are in bed. I cant seem to find pictures of what I would like to add online so maybe I will have to watch and take my own pictures sometime!

Oh no!

Zachary found out what Playdoh is and unfortunately he LOVES it. I really do not like Playdoh, I hate how it gets everywhere, I hate when the colors get mixed together, I hate how it feels under my fingernails but of course the kids love it so I have reluctantly been getting it for them recently.

More Cereal

The cereal in the bags was free (well we had to pay tax but close enough)!!
Not that we needed more cereal.



And remember if you arent using your coupons we will take them! :)

Fun at the Fair

Olivia riding the pony at the fair. Can you tell she is enjoying herself?
That smile was worth $3 for the ride.
Olivia and her new friend.
Zachary saying hi, too!
Giving the lamb a back scratch.

We went to the fair in South Jordan with most of Rob's family on Saturday. The weather was cloudy and a little rainy but perfect for the fair. I would have stayed longer but Rob had had enough. The kids loved the animals and Olivia especially enjoyed the pony ride. She picked out which one she wanted to ride and was so cute during the ride petting the pony and waving, she got an extra long ride I think because the head guy thought it was great she was wearing her rain boots.

I won!!!

I won this contest!!

http://www.momdot.com/?p=504

How exciting!!

See all this time I spend reading blogs is paying off for me! :)

Good Deal Day

Yay! Look at all the cool stuff we either got in the mail on Monday or bought at our brand new Walgreens. All the coupons were in the mail, along with the 100 absolutetly free pictures, the little red box is free tampons. Then I got the pens for .09 cents each and the notecards for .19 cents each. Then my little splurge was new ponytail holders for me and elastics for Olivia and they were buy 1 get 1 50% off. If you are looking for deals like these, I use pinching your pennies and fatwallet along with various other blogs on my google reader. I LOVE FREE STUFF!!

The Garden

Our first tomatoes and some more okra.
Our first pumpkin!
The pretty silks on the corn.
Pretty flower.