Store Score

I coupon shop. Mostly just for fun, and to build food storage.

It can be a lot of fun. The best time of year is fall and winter.

The spring and summer have some deals, but mostly I take a break from coupon shopping around then. We eat pretty healthy around here, so a lot of the "deals" aren't the greatest for us (I don't really WANT all the prepackaged foods if I can help it). But they store really well, and are fun for treats here and there.

Anyhow... I had a good trip last night, so I thought I'd blog about it.

Here's a shot of my living room when I got home:

I went to Albertson's and Fry's last night.

Here is what I got:

11 bags Nature Valley Clusters

11 boxes Fiber One Granola bars

6 Boxes Chex Granola bars

10 Boxes Nature Valley Granola Bars

2 Boxes Cheerios

1 Box Apple Cinnamon Cheerios

6 boxes Fiber One shredded wheat cereal

6 boxes Betty Crocker Fruit Snacks

4 packages Wholly Guacamole

2 64oz Hanson's Apple Juice

2 Propel waters

9 boxes Uncle Ben's rice

6 bags Uncle Ben's Ready Rice

2 packages GE lightbulbs (4 packs)

1 box 75 ct bread bags

2 bottles 32oz (I think that's the size) Kikkoman Soy Sauce

3 cans 11oz mandarin Oranges

10 cans Del Monte tomatoes

2 gallons milk

6 packages Keebler Cookies

3 packages Pepperage Farms cookies

3 boxes ghirardelli brownie mix

6 boxes Cheez-its

10 boxes Betty Crocker potatoes (like Scalloped etc)

3 bottles 40load Snuggle Fabric Softener

2 pair Platex gloves

3 boxes Gogurts

1 16oz tub spreadable Land O Lakes Butter

5 packages Simply Pillsbury cookies

2 bottles Sunny D

2 16 packages bacon

4 Lunchables

1 Hormel ready meal

1 Hormel Chili (bottled type)

8 boxes Lucky Charms Cereal (they also had coupon codes for every two you get a free movie ticket)

Store Savings: $319.59

Coupon Savings: $158.95

Total Savings: $478.54 (that includes coupons and store sale savings)

Total Out of Pocket: $61.11

I also have a few coupons totaling $4.75 off my next shopping order

So, essentially, I got $539.65 worth of groceries for $56.36

So, yeah... there's some not as healthy treats in there, but there are a LOT of necessities, and items that are awesome for food storage. And it's fun to get stuff for free -- even if I'll probably end up giving some of it away.

Black Eye

Last Thursday night (so, 5 days ago) while I was helping River put on his pajamas, he stood up quickly and hit me square in the face with his head. It hurt. A lot. I'm talking facial explosion. I thought for sure it would have split open and I'd have to stitch it back up. Luckily, it didn't bleed on the outside. But man. OUCH.

I know these aren't very flattering photos, but I think this has to be documented. It's not often you get a black eye from your very loving 3 year old son.

Day 1. Swollen like the dickens

Day 4. Green, Yellow, and Purple phase.

It's oh so lovely. Though I don't recommend it.

Happy Halloween!

I decided to make the kids' costumes this year. I think they turned out cute!

River wanted to be a spider, Maddy is a pig, and Britta is a lamb.

They got a TON of use out of them since we had about 4 parties to hit.

Cranky Afternoon, but Britta was all smiles.

Scary Spider!

Maddy loved her tail.

on all fours.

The picture is a bit dark, but this kid is adorable!

Day at the State Fair

It was free at the State Fair for homeschooling families a week or so ago. So Cameron and I took the kids. We had a great time! Lotsa of animals, lots of places for the kids to play. Maddy even got to ride 3 rides for free for reading 3 books. Great way to spend the afternoon.

Hogle Zoo

So, it's been awhile, but the last week in September (when I was visiting family in Utah), I made it to the Hogle Zoo. It was very crowded, and slightly hot. We had a pretty good time though!

I'm starting with my very favorite picture. Brand new baby Zuri! That little elephant reminded me of Britta! We even got to see her nursing! Such a sweet moment. It was hilarious when the momma elephant was done nursing before the baby elephant was. Boy that baby was insistent!

Everybody but me.

My mom and Maddy. Bored.

My grandma.

Baby Giraffe!

Apples!

While Cameron went on his business trip to Ohio, I decided to take the kids on a trip to Utah to see family. It was great. One of my very favorite parts was picking apples in my grandma's backyard. It was so much fun! The apples are AMAZING, too! I was so grateful to her for sharing them with us.

Maddy helped pick a few apples, but I had too much fun climbing up high to let her have all the fun.

River and Britta ate so many apples I thought they'd have belly aches for sure!

Grandma and I did all the cutting and peeling to make apple pie and apple sauce!

Just gorgeous.

Visiting Kirtland

This week I (Cameron) went to Cleveland, OH on a business trip. It turns out that my hotel was a 15 minute drive from historic Kirtland. When I realized that, I decided I had to make a trip (or two) out there.

What's cool about Kirtland?

Kirtland, OH was the headquarters for the Church from 1831-1838. Joseph Smith arrived in January of 1831. You may have heard the story about his arrival. He pulled into town for the first time in a sleigh and stopped in front of Newel K. Whitney's store, who was a recent convert. He walked into the shop and directly to him. Joseph put out his hand and said, "Newel K. Whitney! Thou art the man!" Newel was surprised and didn't know who he was. Joseph said, "I'm Joseph the Prophet. You prayed me here. Now what do you want of me?"

The Church has gone in recently to renovate some of those original buildings and to build replicas of buildings that have since come down. Those sites are manned by full-time senior missionaries who are called specifically to give tours of the Church history sites.

The Saints built the first temple of this dispensation in Kirtland, although not everything had been revealed yet that we now associate with temples. In that temple Jesus, Moses, Elijah and Elias each appeared to Joseph Smith and gave him keys. The temple is still standing. It's maintained now by the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, and they give tours of most of the building.

They have done a fantastic job of keeping the temple maintained. They have gone to lengths to retain as much original workmanship as possible while still bringing it up to code. It's evident that the temple means a lot to them, and it had a very reverent atmosphere. I was a little surprised at how apologetic they sounded when they talked about the temple and what happened there, especially when I compared them to the missionaries at the Church's visitor centers across the street.

The Saints were industrious. They built a sawmill that used the stream's water as power for a number of woodworking tools. That's right, the early Saints built power tools. And what was neat about it was that it was all running off of the same stream, and from what I could tell, the same water wheel. There was a transmission of sorts that would switch the power from one tool to another.

They also built an ashery. Don't know what an ashery is? Neither did I. Basically, the residents could sell their fireplace ashes to the Newel K. Whitney store. The store would take the ashes to the ashery and employ a bunch of people to process them into all kinds of useful things, like soap, lye and potash. Potash was then sold throughout the country and even to England. It was really valuable because it could be used to make fine china, among other things.

It was amazing to me that when the people were confronted with poverty, they found a way to make use of even their ashes. Seems like we need more of that kind of entrepreneurial spirit these days....