Saturday, November 29, 2008

My Saturday.

Today has been a long day....but a good one. I woke up early and got a few things done around the house,Brett ran Brooke to the Christmas tree stand (where the youth group is selling trees), did a few more things, went to the bank, went back to the youth group tree sale to pick up our tree, came home and put it up (we are gonna decorate it tomorrow though), then BACK to pick up Brooke and took her to basketball practice, came home and spent about 4 1/2 hours in my beloved "Dormia" editing pictures from Shea's birthday party shoot! Then, it was back to the school to pick up Brooke, burned all the edited pics onto a disc, created a DVD of the pics (set to the songs "16 candles" and "You're gonna miss this"), then I sat down with the girls and watched the old movie "Funny Girl". After that, I made the chili made for tomorrow's lunch (gonna plug in the crock pot in the morning) and I got the kids to bed. I am starting to get sleepy now!

Anyhoo, my heart just about leaped out of my chest when I opened the "Kmart" ad that I got in the mail today! I guess you have to share my passion for coupons and saving money to fully understand my excitement....but this week Kmart will DOUBLE all manufacturer's coupons up to and including $2.00! So, a $2.00 coupon will be worth $4.00!!! I am so thrilled!! I went through the ad and my coupons and there are several different things that I will be getting for free!! Yippee!! I told Brett that it is better than Christmas for me....he did not quite "get it" either..........if you are reading this, scratching your head, wondering what all the "fuss" is about. At any rate...I will be heading to Kmart-first thing after church tomorrow! Can't wait!

Friday, November 28, 2008

Black Friday fun!











We survived yet another "Black Friday"! I woke up at 2:20 am....on my own ('cause Brett has a sore throat and he would not be still in his sleep!)-but then we all got up at 3:00 am....we were at Walmart (after a run to Dunkin' Doughnuts!) by 3:45 am! We all took our places....just as we had decided to in our game plan......Allie was in "electronics" (the most dangerous place in all of walmart! Seriously!)-Brett and Levi were stationed in "toys" and I was put on "kid's clothes" duty! We came...we saw and we conquered! After Walmart, we went to the mall....Bath and Body works, Jc Penny's, Macy's, Claire's,......., then we were off to Circuit City and"Michael's". After that, we went to Sam's club, Walgreen's and Beall's. We were home by 9:30 am-with 98% of ALL of our Christmas shopping done! Yippee!! We got lots of GREAT deals and had loads of fun!! This year....I was really tired! And Brett and Levi and their "fart machine" (yes...that is right!) were a bit too much for me to handle at times!! Oh well....my Mom even accused me over being...."grouchy", when she called me (while I was standing in a line....listening to Levi and Brett "farting"!). Anyhoo-we did have a lot of fun...and made memories that will last a lifetime! Only 364 days to go!!! (I just love that song by "Bradly"-but instead of singing it on Christmas...I sing it on Black Friday!)






These pics are of my "coupon closet"-where I store all the stuff I get with my coupons. Oh! BTW....yesterday was insane! I went to CVS with $41.00 in reward bucks.....came back with $52.00 in reward bucks (spent .72 cents) and got 2 things of lip gloss, shampoo and conditioner, make up,2 packs of razors, 2 sets of ipod headphones, 2 packs of gum (so they did not OWE ME $!), face wash wipes, 2 tubes of toothpaste and a bottle of lotion! It is really easy to do-you just have to take the time to read the ads! Even if I did not have coupons-I could have at least walked out with the same amount of reward bucks as I came in with! I just make money on the deal since I have the coupons.

Thursday, November 27, 2008

Hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving! We sure did! I ate until I could not see straight...lol! I will get back on track.........um.........Saturday! Today the kids had lots of fun making "movies"-they used my digital video camera and created movies-then edited them and put them on DVD. They are so goofy when they get together with Allie and Levi! They made lots of memories and they cried when they left to go to Lynn's house (they are spending the night with their grandparents tonight-since we are leaving in the middle of the night for "black Friday"). Anyhoo....I finally finished editing the pics for the school! Tomorrow evening I am shooting Shea's 16th B-day party-so I glad that I finished up the editing!

As you know, we are going to Black Friday again this year......I think it is our 6th or 7th year and we save so much money and have so much! We usually start out at Walmart...and use competitor ads on what we can, then we go to the mall, Sam's club (free breakfast!), target....... . We usually get most of our shopping done on Black Friday-which is nice, we can just relax and enjoy Christmas! Anyhoo-it is time to go over our "game plan" for the morning!

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Today I am taking the kids to the rec center....to get out of the house for a bit. Allie and Levi have never been to the rec center and they are looking forward to going! I will take some pics today and post them later. I STILL have not touched the photos that I am supoosed to be editing for the school!! I need to find time for that today too! I want to get them done before the shoot I have on black friday....so I am not trying to edit two shoots at the same time. Anyhoo......just wanted to "check in" with everyone. I will let you know how our day goes!! Happy "day before Thanksgiving" everyone! :)

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

I got through my MRI...towards the end of it I was so relaxed that I almost fell asleep! Anyhoo...I hope (and pray!) that is the last MRI I will have to have for a really....REALLY long time! Thanks so much for your prayers and support!

Alexis and Levi are here at our house....they are spending Thanksgiving and Black Friday with us. I am glad that they came a couple of days early-we always have a blast with them!! We get a lot of those "belly laughs"(that I blogged about a few days ago) when they are here.

I am already tired though...I need to perk up!

Black Friday is gonna be especially taxing on me this year...I have a 16th B-day party to shoot that evening! We usually wake up around 2:30 am that morning! I am doing, as a favor, for a friend....but, it will be nice to "reawaken" my passion and shoot again!
Update: My MRI was just moved up to 1:00 pm today....instead of 5:30 pm. I appreciate your prayers!

Monday, November 24, 2008

Well......I made it through the day!! I am beyond exhausted....but I made it! I did all my grocery shopping, went to the doctor, took Bubba to therapy, baked cookies for the school, and took Maddie out for a special "date"-just the two of us. We went to Cracker Barel and to Starbucks and then we ran a couple of errands. I appreciate the prayers! At one point today, I was ready to "break" and I thought about all of your prayers and I got myself together and kept going! I do not do very well when I am overwhelmed and tired. I did not even have time to eat today.....until I sat down and had supper with Maddie! I came home and started to make lunch at one point...but I ran out of time and had to leave without eating. I get very emotional when I am tired...and I hate not having time to just "stop" for a few minutes! At any rate, I did think about the people praying for me and God gave me the strength to carry on. I appreciate your prayers!


Tomorrow is going to be another busy day....hopefully, not quite as busy as today though!
I am going in for yet another MRI tomorrow.....please pray for me. You all know how much I hate those things-and I am REALLY tired of having them! None the less, God is still in control and I know that ALL things work together for my good! I will be thinking of your prayers again tomorrow....please remember to pray!! My MRI is at 5:30 pm-if you happen to think of me during that time! :)

BTW...I have not had time to calculate my savings from today....but I know at Walgreens I saved $121.00 (and spent only $20.00!) and at Publix I saved $114.00!! I went to CVS too-I will try to post about this week's deals tomorrow. Have any of you been using my shopping tips? Email me (I know that many of you are having problems with leaving "comments") and let me know! I will "keep 'em comin' " if I know that I am helping someone! I got some great deals at Walgreens today....using store and manufacture coupons together!! They even paid me for some of it! LOL!
I've got a really busy 2 days ahead of me....please pray God gives me the strength to get everything done! I've got doctor's appts, therapy with Spencer, editing (lots of editing!), grocery shopping, I am driving to pick up my neice and nephew.......... . Anyhoo, gotta run. Just pray that God gives me what I need to get through the next few days!

ALL things work together for good for those who love HIM and are called according to HIS purpose!

Sunday, November 23, 2008

Saturday, November 22, 2008

Stone crabs






YUMMY! My Daddy bought us 10 lbs of stone crabs...and they are SOOOOOO good! I picked them up this evening & and the kids and I "got into them" already........we saved some for lunch tomorrow so Brett could have some too (he's at work)!





Not much to say about the day today.......this morning Brett scrubbed the house and washed the car while I ran to the bank and took Bubba to the library. After that we went to the park for Spencer's friend's B-day party. Came home, baked a cake and 2 batches of cookies (Maddie's Missionette's class is having a bake sale at church tomorrow). Then, I went to pick up the stone crabs. Tonight I am going to watching one of the old movies I got from the library today. We got "Funny face" (Audry Hepburn), "Funny Girl" (Barbara Streisand) and "Rear Window"-an Alfred Hitchcock movie (James Stewart). I love the old movies....they are the best! Anyhoo, that about wraps up my day!

It is GOOD to be ALIVE! Go out and LIVE your life!! CELEBRATE the ordinary!

Friday, November 21, 2008

Busy......but blessed!

Today has been a busy day...as my whole week has been! I am waiting for the "merry go round" to slow down so I can jump off for just a bit! I met my friend Carol for coffee this morning, I always enjoy spending time with her-she is a lot of fun, and she is just as sweet as ever! After that, I ran some errands and picked Brooke up early from school. She is going to a youth convention and they left the church at 1:00-I hope that she has a great time! We are going to miss her....even if it IS just for one night! We were blessed....by surprise and I was able to give her some extra spending money to take with her (they will be selling Cd's and t-shirts and there is also an arcade at the hotel). She is such a great kid...she'd NEVER dream of asking for anything! When I told her about our unexpected blessing, and I told her I wanted to give her some money-she jumped up and down and hugged me! Then.......she said "I feel guilty!"-she's got a tiny bit of me in her! Anyhoo-after I dropped her off, I ran another errand and now I am about to go get the other 2 kids from school.

Tonight is a Chili cook off "hoe down" at the school.....kinda like a fall festival. I am photographing the families...so my day is not gonna slow down until my head hits the pillow! I am sure that it will be a fun time though!

I am going to take Maddie on a special "date"...just the two of us, next week. Brooke got to go to the youth convention, and Spencer got to go to a hockey game with Brett this week, so I am going to ask Madeline what she'd like to do and spend some time with just her! I am going to save a little bit of our "blessing money" so we can be able to do that! I am looking forward to it!

Well,.......gotta run! Hope every one is having an awesome Friday!

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Baffled

I am baffled myself about this one!! I just walked into CVS-with $25.00 reward bucks and coupons.....and walked out with: 2 packs of hearing aid batteries, 2 bottles of Aveno face sunblock, 2 glade candles, 1 (8 pack) pack of Duracell AA batteries, 1 bottle of Loreal "pro age" moisturizer (cost $14.99!), and a pack of gum AND earned $30.99 worth of reward bucks (without spending cash!)! Is that NUTS or what?? I asked the cashier how it was possible for them to stay in business!! She said that they manage somehow. I know that they get paid by the manufacture for the coupons I gave them-but I do not know how they benefit from giving away reward bucks! I guess that they count on customers coming in and buying more than the "loss leaders" (the things in the ads...that they sometimes loose money on), and I am sure that they count on people spending CASH.......not reward bucks to earn reward bucks.......but still-it does not make sense! I have reached my limit of the "good stuff" this week-the $45.00 worth of reward bucks for my Duracell purchases, the $15.99 worth for my Loreal purchase and the $50.00 worth of reward bucks for my Glade purchases....totalling $110.99 worth of reward bucks earned.........for an initial $28.78 cash "investment"........and I got all of those products!


So...just to make it clear, ALL together-from today and yesterday, I got:
7-(8 pack) packs of Duracell batteries
4-(8 pack) packs of Duracell hearing aid batteries
8- Glade candles
3-Glad plug ins starter sets
2-(2 pack) Glade plug in refills
1- (1 count) Glade plug in refill
2-cans of Pledge spray
2-bottles of Aveno sun block
1-bottle of Loreal lotion
and 3 packs of gum!

and, in addition to the products, I also have $30.99 in reward bucks, which is MORE then what I initially spent in cash! I am going to spend those on next week's deals!


Can I get some feed back-to see if everyone understands what I am saying? I know that it is a bit confusing!

As you know, last night was GNO-and as you ALSO know...I am spoiled rotten by my husband and he leaves out my pjs,towel and a little note-for when I come home. Well, I wanted to share the note he left out last night. He wrote: "Genius (Gillie rubbed off on him-lol), I want to thank you for the way that you save us money and stretch our dollars, thank you for doing it with joy instead of complaining about we don't have. I appreciate you so much. You amaze me. Forever yours, Brett Michael xoxox"

Ain't he sweet! ;-)

laughter...the very best medicine!

Last night was "Girl's night out"...I have to say, I think it was one of the best ones we've had! We celebrated Jodie's Birthday (LATE!), made our Christmas plans, and did some "chick chatting". We laughed so much! I just love to laugh (that sounds weird...huh?)-but it is true! Laughter is so important, without it-life would be dull. I love the kind of laugh that actually makes your belly hurt! I got a few of those laughs last night.....and it energizes me! I have some really funny friends (who......I just realized, love to pick on me!)-and it is so good to know that, even with times being really tough -a lot tougher for some than others :( we can just let down our "guards" ; forget about our worries and relax and have a good time! We can share our "woes" one minute...get loads of "advice" and be belly laughing the next minute (often...ABOUT our "troubles"!). The Bible says that " A merry heart does good like medicine"............I know that it is absolutely true!! Make it a goal today to laugh. Try to let loose, be a little "crazy", goof off with your spouse and kids and just truly enjoy a good belly laugh....it works wonders!

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Whoo Hoo!

As you know....today is grocery shopping day in the McCann household. Today I am so excited am feeling a bit proud of myself! :) I saved $153.92 in coupons and sales today (NOT counting the CVS reward bucks I earned today!).....I only spent $155.00!! I think my greatest find today was at CVS. All the things I purchase at CVS today totaled $28.73...after all my coupons/sales-I SAVED $50.64 according to my receipt! Now...the best part is-I earned $28.00 in CVS reward bucks on just today's shopping trip! How cool is that!? If you are not familiar with the CVS saving program......ask for a card at the front desk (they are free)-and every time you shop, give them your card. Now, if you look at their ADS in the Sunday paper, you will see where it says "purchase X amount of dollars worth of product X and you will receive X amount of dollars in extra bucks". So, today-I bought 4 packs of Duracell batteries (8 pack)-they are on sale for $5.99 each and if you spend $20.00 on any Duracell batteries-you get $15.00 in reward bucks (printed with your receipt when you pay). So you can turn around and use them that day or save them for another day! On top of that great deal..I also had -.75 cents coupon off of each pack that I bought! Another deal I got was on Glade candles/plug ins. If you buy $10.00 worth-you get $5.00 in extra bucks. I had several Glade coupons....2 of them being for a free "plug" in with the purchase of a refill. The refills were on sale for $3.99 and the "plug in" value was $6.99. I also had coupons for the glade candles that were on sale. So.....since they count the money you spent on the product BEFORE you give them your coupons....I earned TWO of $5.00 in extra bucks (=$10.00)...while actually spending only $8.00! SO-bottom line? They PAID ME $2.00 for buying 2 "plug ins" (with the light and extra outlet)-2 refill packs (2 refills in each pack) AND 2 glade candles!! Did ya get that? Check the Ad before counting on getting multiple extra bucks on the same deal-as I did. They are all different...for instance, the Glade deal is limit of 5 per card ($25), the battery one is a limit of 3 ($45). Anyhoo...I am always so excited when I can get such great deals...I just love sharing my great finds!! Happy shopping!

UPDATE! I was thinking this afternnon about how I could use my extra bucks at CVS to get MORE extra bucks. So, I went to CVS again and...bought 4 more packs of batteries (including 2 packs of hearing aid batteries), 4 glade candles, 1 glade plug in and 1 refill. I spent my extra bucks...and earned $25.00 MORE extra bucks!! SO , I got all of that and I am only $3.00 extra bucks short of what I came in with and I spent NO cash (except $5.00 on a seperate transaction)!

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Elf yourself!

I LOVE these crazy things!! They just crack me up!! It does not take that much to amuse me!! Each one is different...so check them all out! I used the same pics that we uploaded LAST Christmas.....that is ok...they are still funny! Noah's expression is priceless!! As is Maddie's "I am not happy about you taking my picture right now" expression!


Send your own ElfYourself eCards




Send your own ElfYourself eCards



Send your own ElfYourself eCards


Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Missin' family :(

Today I am going for a long walk. I love this chilly weather! When I come home I am going to cut and file this week's coupons. Yesterday was incredibly busy, so I did not get the chance to do them.

I talked to my Daddy this morning-he called at 7:30 am -which was 6:30 am his time. He and my Mom (and our Gillie Girl) were on the way to the "fish house" to deliver fish (he's a commercial fisherman-for those of you who do not yet know that). I miss my family so much! Especially this time of year-with the weather cooler. It reminds me of the excitement I felt, as a child, waking up to the very first day a cold front moved through. My girls are exactly the same way! They squeal with excitement when it gets cold. Spencer , on the other hand,..........he HATES being cold! Even this morning. on the way to school, we had to listen to him whine and cry about how he wishes it was "hot". "When is it gonna be hot again"....."I hate it cold outside, I can't feel my legs!"..............................! I do not know about that child sometimes! Brett likes the colder weather-so I do not KNOW where he gets THAT from!

Anyhoo-I really miss my family! Our little "Gillie Girl" wants a Birthday Cake for Christmas! How sweet is THAT?! Her Birthday is the day after her Daddy's birthday-it is December 29th. She is such a precious child......and............ she thinks her "Sha Sha" (what all the kids call me) is a GENIUS! :) When she was here last time she was putting stickers on my brace-then she decided that she wanted to take them all off. Well, she kept ripping them each time she tried to remove one. So I told her to let me take them off for her-and when I carefully removed the first one-completely intact...I jokingly told her "see, your aunt Sha Sha is a GENIUS!". I said it with a fluctuation in the word "genius" and ever since she has gone around saying that "sha sha is a genius"-in the same tone that I said it to her. It is really cute! I told her that she was a genius too....just like her aunt Sha! Anyhoo...now, when my Dad calls -he always says "um...I need to talk to the genius".



Gillie & Maddie **Gillie Christmas morning **Gillie and Sha-Sha **playing peek a boo** and Gillie & her Daddy







I miss that little curly headed girl!

Well, if I am going to get going on my walk, I need to eat some breakfast and GO!

Sunday, November 16, 2008

We took the kids to the Rec. Center today.....we played Basketball, football, soccer, and baseball. (I TRIED to play.....but it aggravated my back-so I only played a little bit ). Anyhoo-I wanted to share some pics! Tonight is date night! I am excited! We are going to Red Lobster...I have a $4.00 off coupon AND a free appetizer/dessert coupon-so we decided to go there.






I was glad to see that my FAVORITE NFL player is the "honorary team captain" for the Bucs today! John Lynch is retiring...I hope that the let him retire as a Buc! I have a Lynch Bucs jersey that he signed for me...I even got a pic of him signing it (and also a picture that I took of him-when I shot a Bucs game umpteen years ago!). Anyhoo.....fingers are crossed that he retires a Buc!











Bubba's butt wound up right on Brett's face! LOL!