Thankful Thursday...and 100!

~~I am thankful for craigslist. I just sold some MORE stuff and got another $30! Bonus cashflow like that sure helps when we are trying to keep a tight budget. Josh has the next week off and it will provide us some fun money to enjoy with him.
~~I am thankful that Josh has the next week off (boy does he deserve some rest) and that it's PAID vacation, as for so many years his vacation wasn't, and it made time off no fun when we couldn't "afford" it.
~~I am thankful for the rain we've gotten all week. Temps are down so we've been able to play outside and my lawn is looking much greener.
~~I am thankful that Emilee is taking an interest in cooking. I am not a fan of being in the kitchen and she LOVES it and she's at an age now that she can cook a full meal start to finish with very little help from me. She feels special and I can be doing other things.

And CONGRATS to me and Love the Monkey Life...this is my 100th post! I hope everyone reading still enjoys this blog as much as I like sharing in it!!

The last 10!!!

I was VERY excited this morning when I stepped on the scale! It's just over three months post delivery and I only have ten pounds left to lose (of the 54 I gained) to get back down to my pre pregnancy weight!! I've been trying to go for a 2 mile run at least 3 times a week and I've been watching what I eat, loosely following Joshua's weight watchers guidelines...and it's working!! Woohoo, just had to share!

Mom's visit!

Mom got to come visit last week, and instead of putting her to work for a month like when she came in the spring, we got to get out and have lots of fun!

We took advantage of the annual FREE day and went to our zoo...


Saturday was Mom's birthday so we went to the water park to celebrate and Carter gave JoJo a birthday splash...


Joshua, Emilee and Trevor crossing the water obstacle course...


The weather was gorgeous for most of Mom's stay too, so we got to spend some time at the park...



Pullllllllling JoJo up the stairs...



Em, where's your shoe??? (Aren't these swings cool?!)

Coupon shopping 7/27

Here's pictures of today's fun!! (I added a pic of my receipt from today cuz a friend of mine joked that she didn't believe that I got all of that stuff for just $4, so that one's for you *wink*.)

I went to Homeland for the first time armed with coupons, today. I'm not overly impressed with it as a general grocery store, but I've reconsidered shopping there as I've recently found a couple of bloggers who are putting together the coupon matches for me...and the couponing is AWESOME since Homeland doubles coupons!! I also hit CVS, hoping to score all of the free back-to-school stuff but came out mostly with rain checks...oh well, it'll be there later, still free!

Even though you can read the receipt (click on the pic for a large view to read the fine print), I'll give ya a breakdown...

rhodes rolls...$2.69, $1/1 doubled to $2...69c
sour cream...$1.25, 45c/1 doubled to 90c...35c
easy mac...89c each, $1/2 doubled to $2...22c overage
3 musketeers...77c each, one free coupon plus $1/2 doubled to $1.54 (this one caught the overage)...FREE
secret...$1.50, $1/1 doubled to $2...50c overage
cinnabon...$2.00, $1/1 doubled to $2...FREE
tony's pizza...99c each, $1/2 doubled to $2...2c overage
smart waters...75c each, $1/2 doubled to $2...50c overage
potatoes $2.49 (this was a need for dinner, not an awesome deal)

tampons...$1.89 (earns $1.89ECB)...free
comp books...99c each (earns $1.98ECB)...free
colgate...$2.88 (earns $2ECB), $1/1 coupon...22c overage

After some tax and last week's ECBs, I spent $4.14 for everything in the picture and I have about $6ECB new to use for next week at CVS!!

Independence Day Fun!

(As you can tell I'm catching up today, sharing some pics from the last few weeks...)

All 5 of us went to our town's 4th of July Parade. It's touted nationally as being one of the top ten in the country! We all enjoyed the festive floats, and Carter was particularly tickled that the firetrucks and horses came by for his sole enjoyment!!

Early that evening, a big storm blew in FAST and hit us with some high wind and rain and threatened tornadoes. For a bit we weren't sure if there were going to be any fireworks that night...

But the sky cleared about 8pm and we headed over to the college campus where the big display was to happen. The kids hung out in the back of the van while we waited for the show to begin...

The neatest part of the fireworks was that they were coreographed to music (that was broadcast over a local radio station).

Mile High Visit!

Last month I went to Denver. Josh sent Emilee and I on a "girls weekend" to visit one of my oldest friends and her family. We had such a nice time visiting, sight seeing and playing with her kiddos. And I really enjoyed the Mommy/Daughter time with Emilee.

On the plane...

At the zoo...

Bears stink...

Em, Aiden, Alana and an unimpressed elephant...

Em and Aiden having fun at the amusement park...

Em and Alana hangin' at lunch...

Tamara and I...

lovethemonkeylife wordle

This was fun!! It's a picture of the frequency of words that appear in my blog. Go to www.wordle.net to create one for your blog!

Target and CVS for the week of 7/5-7/11

It's a SUPER great week for coupons and deals!! Trev and I hit CVS and Target this morning and had a blast!! Since I don't have the time to break down each item and their coupons, suffice it to say that 2 boxes of cereal, 5 boxes of eggos, two packages of cereal bars, two 4pks of yogurt, two Dawn, one deodorant, two shampoos and some pantiliners (about $45-50 on regular price)...

cost me just $8.76!!!

And I have rainchecks for 3 packages of FREE pencils (back to school is coming!) and they-will-pay-me-$1 to take 3 boxes of Post cereal for CVS when they restock.

For the complete breakdown and printable coupon links, click here Money Saving Mom .

Happy 4th & fishing!!

We went to a kids fun day in town and it included a 4th of July themed chalk festival. This was our "square"...mostly penned by Em, but Trev and Carter helped too.

Josh took the boys for some fun at Bass Pro Shops and they got these cute pics snapped...

And then he took them for some REAL fishing...

And this was the precautions taken after Carter fell down and almost landed in the ER from bumping his noggin...

Big brother was pretty proud of little brother's catch!

And a couple of days later, the whole family went a' worm drownin' and everybody caught something (even if too little to eat, it was still fun)!!