Recent Mail

It's been a good week for mail. Here are some of the goodies:

A Juicy Juice water bottle
Proctor & Gamble samples for Head & Shoulders shampoo/condition and Charmin Freshmates To Go wipes
Coupon for free 64 oz. bottle of Old Orchard Healthy Balance juice
Coupon for free DiGiorno Flatbread Melts
Subway $10 card for doing Hi Points surveys
4-$0.50 coupons for Campione garlic bread

New Recipe Blog

I started a recipe blog at jennysrecipefile.blogspot.com. You can search the topics on the left side for specific ingredients, so if you click on chicken, it will bring up all the chicken recipes I've posted. If you need some baking or cooking ideas, check it out!

Super One This Week

Raina and Ollie had checkups this week, so we stopped to get some of the sale items at Super One.
For free:


2 bottles of Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce (the store had a buy 1 get 1 free coupon, and I had a free coupon from emailing the company)
2 pounds of bananas for buying 2 cans of Reddi Wip (which was 2/$4, and I used a $0.50 and a $1 coupon, so they ended up being $1.25 each)
Top the Tater was free when you buy 2 gallons of milk

Other deals:


Cheerios snack mix buy 1 get 1 free at $2.79 for 1, used 2 $0.50 coupons, so $1.79 for 2=$0.90 each
Yoplait yogurt 12/$5, used 2 $0.40/6 coupons=$0.35 each
Land O' Lakes 24 oz. yogurt buy one get one free at $2.39 for 1, so $1.20 each. I'll use at least one of these to make Frozen Fruit Cups.
Bic razors were $2.50, used $2.00 coupon=$0.50
Rice Krispies were $2, used $1 coupon=$1.00
Cheerios were $2, used $1/2 coupon=$1.50 each
Pop Tarts were $1.77, used $1 coupon=$0.77
Pringles were still 2/$2.22, used $1/2 coupon=$0.61 each
Fisher sunflower seeds were $1.29, used $1 coupon=$0.29

Saved 45% or $47.32

Zups also had Over the Moon 1/2 gallons of milk for $1.99. I had 3 $1 coupons, so they were $0.99 each. The milk is fat-free or low-fat, but has added calcium and protein, so it has a richer, creamier taste than skim or 1% milk does. Unfortunately, when I got home I discovered the milk was expired by 5 days. After Barry got home, I brought them back and exchanged them for fresher milk.

Six Months!

Can you believe Ollie is already six months old? He's very interested in the world around him, and his first tooth is poking through on the bottom. He's still doing mini-pushups, but will also get up on his hands and knees. I see a crawler in the near future! Here he is in his new toy, an exersaucer:


and his chunky legs:

Grocery Deals

Last week's highlights: Saved 44%, or $79.84, shopping sales and using coupons.

FREE with coupons--Oscar Mayer beef hot dogs, Jennie-O 3 lb. ground turkey, 2 Twix candy bars
Other--Fiber One toaster pastries, 2/$4-$1 coupon=$1. I tried these and probably won't be buying them again. They tasted a little too much like cardboard.
Cole's mini garlic toast--$0.99 each, used 2 $0.30 coupons=$0.69 each
Arrowhead sour cream--$0.99
Flavorite cheese (block, shredded, American)--$0.99 each
1/2 gallon orange juice--$0.99
Pringles--2/$2.22-$1/2 coupon=$1.22/2 or $0.61 each
Betty Crocker brownie mix--$0.99 each-$0.50/2 coupon=$0.74 each
Betty Crocker cake mix--$0.99
Pam--2/$5-$1 coupon=$1.50
David's bagels--$0.99
Edge shave gel--2/$3-$1 coupon=$0.50
Skintimate shave gel--2/$3-$0.75 coupon=$0.75
Del Monte canned tomatoes--$1 each-2 $0.50 coupons=$0.50 each

Cottonelle 4 packs--$0.99, used $0.50 and $0.50/2 coupons=$0.66/pack

Mail Call

I've gotten some "good mail" the last couple of days:
A couple of coupon trains
Free Gilette razor
Coupon for FREE bottle of Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce, plus other coupons for Ken's products
A $25 debit card from Huggies Enjoy the Ride Rewards

Sibling Rivalry?

There are plenty of times when the kids are at each others' throats, but there are also some very sweet moments, too.

New Trick

Ollie's got some new moves. When he's on his belly, he gets himself up into a mini-pushup and then does a belly flop down to the floor. And he laughs and squeals. It's so cute!

Groceries This Week

I must have been off my game a little this week as I only saved 36% ($97.84) this week. I had Ollie and Raina with me, and Ollie got fussy about halfway through so I had to carry him while pushing a heavy cart. A couple of things I didn't check the ad close enough and got the wrong variety--Lysol wipes were 2/$5, but only the citrus scent. I got one citrus and one spring, and the spring was $3.09. Old El Paso enchilada sauce was 4/$5 for regular or mild flavor. I picked out hot without realizing it, and it was $1.59. Then Hefty One Zip bags were 3/$5--great deal, especially since I had 3-$1 coupons and they would end up at $0.66 each. Of course I bought the wrong size and paid $2.99 a box ($1.99 after the coupons). My errors=$5.26.
I still got some good deals, though:
Dole spinach--$1.47
Dole Classic Romaine (not pictured)--$0.77
Brownberry bread--$3.89, buy one get one free, used 2-$1.00 coupons=$0.95 each (bonus: it's not made with high fructose corn syrup)
Klement's beef sticks--$3.00, used $2 coupon=$1.00
Pork chops--free with purchase of Kingsford charcoal and Vlasic pickles=$6.00 off the bill


BBQ sauce (as if I needed any more)--10/$10, used 1-$1 coupons and 1-$0.75 coupon=$0.25 for 2
Chi-Chi's salsa--$3.79, buy one get one free, used 2-$0.55 coupons=$1.35 each


M&M's--FREE with coupon from realchocolate.com. Check back every Friday through September to get your free chocolate! Each person can get up to four!

Bic utility lighters--$4.49, buy one get one free, used $1 coupon=$1.75 each. Great for lighting the grill! They also had peelies (peel off coupons) for $1 off any charcoal, so I used that toward my charcoal.

Not pictured: (they went in the fridge/freezer) Super One was celebrating the finishing of their remodel and had some special deals
Land O' Lakes 1/2 gallon o.j.--$0.97
Kemps chocolate milk 1/2 gallon--$0.97
Milk 1 gallon--$1.77
Flavorite butter--2/$3
Lynden Farms hash browns--$0.97

Canal Park

Our last stop on Friday afternoon was to Canal Park. We ate ice cream cones, bought popcorn to eat and feed the seagulls, and watched a ship pass through the Lift Bridge.

Duluth Zoo

Playing at the playground on the zoo grounds.

Geese and goslings.

Ollie was quite content to sit in the stroller.

Buddies.

Brushing the goats.

Trying to get all four kids in a picture.

Or at least three of them.

Comparing arm spans.

By the prairie dogs.

Remy was a little scared of the big bear, but Jackson was ready to take him on.

Walgreens

I had to sneak in a quick trip to Walgreens while we were in Duluth. I had a $10 giftcard from cashing in debit card points, so everything pictured only cost me $0.34 out of pocket.
First I bought the Country Time lemonade, on sale for $1.99 each and used a $1.50 off 2 coupons, making them about $1.25 each. The L'Oreal shampoo/conditioner was buy 1 at $4.99, get 1 free. I also used 2-$1 coupons, making each bottle $1.50. The Bic razors were $4.99, and I used a $3 coupon, so $1.99. The razors also printed a $1 Register Reward good toward my next purchase. I also bought a bottle of Walgreens brand ibuprofin for Barry. I paid for these items with my giftcard.
Then I did the Dawn on a separate transaction. It was $0.99 each. I used the $1 Register Reward from the Bic razors and the rest of the giftcard, then paid the $0.34 still due.

Raina is 5!

Raina's birthday was Friday. We went to the zoo, McDonalds, and canal park where we ate ice cream and fed popcorn to the seagulls. Raina was heard saying, "This is an awesome trip. This is a great day!" She got a new bike and helmet and has had fun opening packages from relatives.

Toes and Waffles

A couple of pics to share:
Ollie discovered his toes (check out the chunky legs)

and Remy helped me make waffles the other day.