I showed you our Vermont memory book a few weeks ago. When we found out we were moving I knew I wanted to make a book of Baby Girl’s friends in Vermont as well. She is a social butterfly, and I thought it would be neat to look back and talk about her friends and the memories they made. Then, I found a code for another free Shutterfly book! Hooray!

For some friends I had gobs and gobs of pictures. For other friends we had to arrange times to take a picture. But I got it done and ordered it the night before we moved.

I couldn’t think of a more creative title. My creativity left for a few weeks there in the middle of packing.

(Ignore the little animals. I don’t have permission from my friends to have their kids’ full names and pictures placed on the internet.)
I put pictures of her friends and then a little blurp telling how old they are, how we met them, what they played together, etc.

We included her grown-up friends, too. Because she’s only three, a lot of her friends are family friends.

Doctors even made the cut in our friend book! Baby Girl enjoyed going to the doctor, so I couldn’t forget them. Besides, Buddy’s chiropractor did so much for him. I couldn’t leave her out!

I hope Baby Girl and even Buddy enjoy looking at this in the next few weeks and months. I know I will enjoy it and the memories it will bring!

Friday around lunchtime I got a text that told me Gymboree was having a big sale. Well, that is music to my ears. I love Gymboree but I refuse to pay full price (and sometimes even 60% off is too expensive). Friday was the day my in-laws came, and there was work to be done. But don’t worry; I skipped the work and headed to the sale.
At that point I knew we were moving to Texas, so I was looking for warm weather clothes. They didn’t have anything for Buddy (although I got him a puffy vest because I’m a sucker for those). Baby Girl, however, made out quite well.

Each item in this picture cost $3.99! She got 6 skirts, two pairs of shorts, capris, jeans, two tank tops, donut pajamas, a shirt, and a sweatshirt. I saved somewhere around $200. I mean, who pays over $20 for a pair of jeans for a four-year-old? Not me, that’s for sure. But I will pay $3.99 for jeans.

My mother-in-law and I returned later that day. They had put out a few more summer clothes, so I got a sundress and a spring coat.

I love finding deals like this! It makes me feel good to provide good, cute clothes for my family without breaking the bank.

Today the kiddos and I headed to the mall. It’s vacation week around here, so I was a little hesitant to go. We got there at 10, though, and it was pretty empty. I went for two reasons: I had a coupon for free underwear from VS. I had a scarf to return from Christmas. When I returned the scarf I found a cute sweatshirt for Buddy. My man and I are both soccer enthusiasts, so I tend to buy anything with soccer. Plus, it was on a clearance rack. I had a little left on a gift card from when Buddy was born, so this item was free. We headed to Kohl’s to see if they had any clearance boots. (I am slightly obsessed with boots.) They had tons, but it was hard to pick through. In between looking at boots, I had to put Buddy’s shoe back on (His favorite game is kicking them off.), feed him Cheerios, make sure Baby Girl wasn’t pushing the stroller too far away, and answer her “why” questions. Whew. Exhausting business,  shopping with two little kids. I didn’t find boots for me, but I found Nike sneakers for Buddy for…. $3.20!!! Yay! I also found the cutest fake Uggs for Baby Girl for $7.99. We returned something to Kohl’s awhile ago and had a gift card, so these items were also free. And, they gave me the extra money from the card ($4) in cash! Yay!
On our way out, we walked through the show department of Sears. They had the boots I was looking for on clearance! I tried them on, sent my man a picture of them, decided on a color, etc. (Again, all while answering “why” questions, feeding Cheerios, and trying to keep track of those baby shoes!) The boots were marked down from $80 to $20. I figured that was a good deal. When I checked out, they rang up to $13.99!

I walked out of the mall sweating from trying to keep two kids happy. (Oh, we had to rush to the potty before we could get to the car.) But, I also walked out having spent $13.99. I got a sweatshirt, underwear, boots, and shoes for both kids, and I spent $13.99! Not too bad at all.

I also walked by Dunkin’ Donuts twice without caving! Pretty successful day if you ask me.

I couldn’t get Baby Girl to take the boots off for the picture. They seem snug in her calves, but they’re two sizes too big. I hope they fit next year!

How cute are those Nikes! I’m certain he’ll be walking by the time he’s in that size, so they’ll be perfect!

I live in one of the “greenest” states in the nation. Everyone here is all about living green. In fact, they sell shirts that say, “We were green before green was cool.” And it’s true. There are wind turbines around. We recycle cans, cardboard, plastic, etc. We get $.05 for returning our soda cans. We get $.03 off per reusable bag we bring to the grocery store. I have a bunch of reusable bags that I’ve collected here and there. Here’s a secret, though: I forget to use them! Don’t tell anyone. I look like such a bad Vermonter. I justify it by reusing the plastic grocery bags as trash bags. That’s recycling, right?

Anyway, I have a product to share with you. It is so not “me”. It’s green, earth-friendly. Things that I’d like to be, but I forget to be. Through some coupons and a great deal on Plum District, I got two bags from Bag The Habit, and I only paid $3, including shipping! I got the luxe totes, and I love them! I used one yesterday to carry all of the kids’ snow gear to the local winter carnival. And it carried all of it, fit over my shoulder, and wasn’t awkward to carry. Plus, I love the design.

Who knows. Maybe I’ll actually take them into the store with me. If not, then I’ll use them to cart kids’ stuff. Either way, I love the bags!

My two winners from the Shutterfly giveaway were comments #3 and #4.

Jessica @ This Blessed LifeSays:

Oooh I would love to win the calendar code! I was hoping to do one for my Dad for Christmas of Luke for his office. (that was super bad grammar but you get the idea! lol)

marcySays:

Yay! Your first giveaway!

Check your email for a message from me! Enjoy! Thanks everyone for entering.

I received a box in the mail a few weeks ago. It was filled with joy and happiness. Okay, it was from Shutterfly and it was filled with free things! And I love free things!
Since I love free things so much, and since I love Shutterfly so much, I decided to share the love.
Today I am giving away two codes for a free Shutterfly calendar and two codes for 15 free Christmas cards.

All you have to do is leave a comment. I will randomly select two winners. You have until Friday at midnight to enter!

Happy entering!

When we were in Ohio, we had the chance to go shopping, not once, but twice, without the kiddos. I had been to Target in Connecticut and wasn’t overly impressed with their Halloween clearance. I know better than to buy costumes a year in advance, but I was hoping to find some neat dress-up clothes for Baby Girl for Christmas. They were 50% off in CT, which I didn’t feel was that great. When we got to Ohio we went out and found them to be 70% off at Target. We got her a princess outfit, which I’m sure she’ll love. I tried to get her a cowboy outfit, but that was an ordeal. It was only the hat and sheriff’s badge. They were charging me 70% off of the original price when the coat and vest were missing. I asked for a discount and was told it would be marked down an extra dollar. So I was charged $5.10 for a hat and a badge. I said that it was still too much when over half of the costume was missing. The manager came over and said, “Well, I can’t sell it to you anyway. We’re going to donate it.” I asked if she would donate it to my daughter. She ignored me. I was so frustrated, but anyway….
We headed to Walmart and found their Halloween stuff marked down to 75% off. I got Baby Girl a southern belle outfit (basically a fancy dress and hat) for $5! I also found adorable fall cupcake holders for $.45! Yay!
There is a store near my in-laws’ called Gabriel Brothers. (Have any of you heard of it?) I am a huge fan! It’s name-brand stuff for much cheaper. They had a HUGE collection of Melissa and Doug toys…my favorites! I got each of the kids a toy for Christmas, both under $5! Then I found a Jansport University of Alabama sweatshirt for my niece…$10! I kept telling my man, “I wish I was a ‘Bama fan.” We also got each other some gifts (usually we shop separately, but they were good deals). I’m not going to mention them here, because we’re pretending that we forgot what we got for each other.
Now, I would take pictures, but we left everything in Ohio. My in-laws will bring it when they come for Christmas. We just couldn’t add more weight to our luggage.
It was so nice to have good places to shop. Every time we’re there I get a little bit jealous of all of the choices they have! When we need something we go to Walmart, but there are 6 or 7 places we could go in Ohio. (Take, for instance, our toaster oven shopping…we could’ve shopped around, but instead we went to two stores and ended up with Walmart.) I’m trying not to be jealous. We love living here. But I’m not gonna lie, I love visiting Ohio, too!

I FINALLY got rain boots! I don’t think I’ve ever had rain boots, even when I was a little girl. The joy of them escaped me until Baby Girl started wearing hers. Her first pair were light pink with brown polka dots. Ugh! So precious! And she LOVED splashing in puddles.
Last year when our winter lasted forever (is anyone else terrified to start winter this year just in case it never ends again?), I decided that rain boots would be perfect in March and April when it’s not snowing but the ground is gross. I just never found a good deal.
We had a gift card to Amazon with some money leftover from buying the kids some necessities. So…I got these!

Baby Girl loves them, too! She kept trying them on, which was hilarious…they were more like waders for her.
I can’t wait to have a nice rainy fall day (tomorrow, perhaps?). I will be wearing these with my warm sweater and my leggings. Yay!

Have you seen this?

I saw these in the store a few weeks ago…at a higher price than a regular Hershey’s bar. So, I’m wondering, is this any good? Seems to me you’re paying more for the air that they put into it. Does that make sense?

Has anyone had one? Thoughts?

Since we’ve moved Rite Aid is not as easily accessible for me. I don’t get their ads in the mail anymore, so I spend time online trying to figure out the best sales. With a newborn and a toddler it’s just too much right now. We’ve moved closer to a CVS, and I hear they do great with sales, coupons, rewards, etc. Can any of you help me? Is CVS a great place to shop? Are there any “insider” things I need to know about? I’m going to keep an eye on their circular and see if it will work for me. Let me know what you think!