I'm partly to blame, I admit it.

Well, I hate to admit this but I'm partly to blame for the new coupon policy change at Publix - one of those who took advantage of the crazy deal on Planter's Trail Mix last week w/the Food Lion coupon (it made it free with $1.00 overage).

Now, my intentions weren't necessarily bad - I bought a bunch of trail mix to donate to our school because we are on limited funds and needed some food options for cheap. That said, regardless, the fact that Publix will take competitor's coupons is a blessing and it shouldn't be taken advantage of. I was convicted of that after my last transaction and I feel badly that I made a bad choice.

There are consequences...

Publix has changed their coupon policy in regards to competitor coupons. They will only take ONE competitor coupon per item, per customer, per day. No more printing off multiple coupons and using them. Apparently there were a couple of people who tried to use 90 Food Lion coupons in one transaction for Trail Mix (getting $90 in overage). Another tried using 64 coupons in one transaction. NEITHER ONE WAS ME - I'm just making that clear. The most I used was 15 which is WAY TOO MANY, I know. I'm sorry!


For more on the corporate coupon policy change - read THIS blog here.

Owen's 1st day of preschool

Another milestone in our family - Owen started preschool! He goes on Tuesday & Thursday and LOVES it. He has a wonderful teacher who was also one of Drew's teachers when he was in preschool. We keep asking him his favorite part of school and he always says "eating". Too funny!

Drew's 1st Baseball Game - Fall 09

Drew is playing his 4th baseball season and the improvements this season are huge. He is hitting off the pitcher every time, he is hitting 1st in the batting order instead of last, he is playing at 3rd base instead of in the outfield. He's doing awesome!

Here are a few pictures:

Morgan's 1st Soccer Game - Fall 09

This is Morgan's 4th soccer season and she is doing great! She has found a sport that she really enjoys and is pretty good at it as well.

She scored SIX goals today out of the 7 that her team scored! Here are some pics:




I think her body position in this photo is crazy!

Owen plays baseball

They have a great program for young kids here called Smart Start. It's a baseball program designed to teach the younger kids the fundamentals of baseball and just get them exposed to the game. It meets on Saturday mornings for 1 hour only.

I still can't believe my youngest baby is old enough to play a sport. Here are some pics.




He was apparently confused and was kicking the ball around instead of picking it up and throwing it. You picked BASEBALL, not SOCCER Owen!

Publix shop

So, I didn't take a picture but I had a good shop at Publix today! Lots of great deals.

Here's what I got (all for $53.75 - tax included)

6 - Chex Mix Bars
1 - Glade Candle (2 oz) - FREE
2 - Country Crock (small size)
1 - Lime Away Cleaner
12 - Planters Trail Mix (GREAT deal! $1 money maker on each pack)
2 - Keebler Chocolate Chip Cookies
4 - Rotini Healthy Harvest Pasta
9 - Pillsbury Toaster Strudel
7 - Green Giant Frozen Vegetables - FREE
3 - Bounce Dryer Bars (2 months)
4 - Tide Stain Release Tablets - $ .26 money maker on each pack
2 - Tide HE Detergent (50 oz)
2 - Healthy Choice Steamer Meals
1 - Bertolli Olive Oil
1 - Goldfish - Pretzel
1 - Goldfish - Cheddar
14 - General Mills Cereal (Cookie Crisp, Lucky Charms, Kix) - Most were FREE
1 - Goodnights (the most expensive thing I bought!)
1 - Charmin Toilet Paper - 6 double rolls
1 - loaf of bread
1 - bag of flour
2 - Kraft Shredded Cheese (larger bag)
1.61 lbs of Granny Smith apples
1.82 lbs of Fuji apples
2.18 lbs of grapes

Getting paid to shop!

Okay, I went to Target today, list in hand, to take advantage of several deals and freebies.

I got all this:







and Target PAID ME $ .63 to buy it! Not pictured are 2 Tostitos Salsas as well. This was three transactions. The only reason they paid me was because I was talking to the lady behind me in line and forgot to use my free candle & $1.00 off tide (travel size - made them free) coupons. When those were entered I was refunded more than I paid for all three transactions by $ .63! I did tell the cashier but she said it was fine.

CRAZY!

Gravity

I am sitting here working on a project for PTO and watching a taped So You Think You Can Dance that is highlighting past performances. I was struck by one in particular. It's trying to show the hold that addiction has over people and I couldn't help thinking of how sin can get ahold of us. It's a pretty good picture of that.

Take a watch:

Now that's some savings...

As I mentioned in recent posts, I have started doing the whole coupon clipping thing. Harris Teeter is a grocery store not too far away and they started tripling coupons up to $ .99 this week. The Kroger stores around HT started tripling coupons too. Add that to their Mega Event ($5.00 off your bill when you buy 10 participating items) and you can come away with some GREAT deals.

I didn't take a picture of my first trip to Kroger, but here are some pictures of my second trip.

Here's what 80% savings and a total of $38 (tax included) will get you with the right coupons:

First day of school (Morgan & Drew)

What a big week this has been in the Mueller household. On Wednesday Morgan had her first full day of 2nd grade and today, Drew had his first day of Kindergarten.

Morgan has always loved school. Since Kindergarten she ends each year crying because she doesn't want it to end. I'm so thankful that she loves school and loves to learn, I hope that doesn't change. I still can't believe my baby is in 2nd grade though - it seems like just yesterday we were doing the Kindergarten phase-in with her. The pictures below also include Morgan's good friend, Sarah, who comes home with us each day.

Drew is starting Kindergarten this year and he is blessed to have the same teacher that Morgan had. We LOVE her and are so excited that she'll be Drew's teacher too. Up until this morning Drew was super excited to start Kindergarten and be a "big kid" like his sister. This morning he was excited but that was really tempered by his nerves. I don't see him anxious or nervous very often but as we approached school and parked, he got really quiet. It was funny because we prayed in the car on the way to school and he kept his eyes closed the whole time and was concentrating very, very hard - this is a bit unusual for him. LOL. We got in and he had to sit at a cafeteria table with his teacher and a few fellow students before walking down to his classroom. Our county does a phase-in period for Kindergarten students so for the next 3 school days only 1/3 of the class goes for 1/2 the day. The next 2 school days 1/2 the class comes for the entire day before they all start a regular schedule together next Friday. I think it was good for him to only be there with 4 other students for his first day.

Now we just have one more kid to get first-day-of-school-pictures for! Owen will be starting preschool in September on Tues & Thurs. He is very excited and doesn't quite understand why he can't go to school just yet.

One more coupon thought

If you're in the southern area - SOUTHERN SAVERS (link to the right) is the place to start, definitely.

Coupon Crazy

Over the past few months I've been hearing about all the money that my friends were saving using coupons. Now, I never really cared to clip coupons because it didn't seem to be worth the time it took to clip them. BOY WAS I WRONG!

My friend, Jessica, started having coupon classes and she showed us all how it's done. From organizing your coupons, to how to find the best deals. All very valuable information. (If you're interested in attending a coupon class, let me know and I'll get you in touch with the Queen).

An example of the savings. Last week I went to Kroger and spent $43 (before tax). After coupons and including tax, I only paid $6.32 for what I bought. That's some crazy savings and it's well worth the effort to clip the coupons.

I'll post a list of blogs/websites that I check for coupon deals and if you have any I can add, let me know. Also, many are regional but I'm sure you can find some in your area too.

Yeah, it's been a while...

I get distracted with Facebook and forget to post over here. I've been told that I need to get to it, so, I'll try.

This has been a busy summer for us. Let's see:

1. Visit with my parents (Memorial Day)
2. Numerous visits with Eric's dad as he passed through town.
3. Vacation Bible School (Lifepoint, where we attend)
4. Water Camp (at Owen's preschool - for all the kids)
5. I went to Camp Whatever (middle & high school camp)
6. Visit with Carolyn (my mother-in-law) and niece, Bethany.
7. Morgan went to C3 Day Camp at Lifepoint (Chick-fil-a)
8. Boys went to VBS at their preschool
9. All kids went to VBS at their Awana's church (Yes, we did hop to 3 diff't vbs)
10. Visit with my mom & niece.
11. Beechbend with Morgan's Girl Scout Troop
12. Nashville Shores with Eric's work

That's quite the list. I'll try to get back on later and post some actual photos.

Today was the first day of school for Morgan. It really was just a 2 hour day where the kids and parents go in and fill out lots of forms, everyone meets the teachers, and we go home. Wednesday will be their first full day. Drew is starting Kindergarten this year and they phase them in differently than they do the other grades so his first full day won't be until August 21st. His first 1/2 day is this Friday though.

Owen will be starting preschool at the same place that both Morgan & Drew attended so I'll have TWO DAYS with no kids. Crazy! I'm sure to find plenty of things to occupy my time. I seem to be great at that.

So - there's an update for ya (for those few that might actually check my blog).

Happy Easter!

What a great day to celebrate our RISEN Savior! We are so thankful for the gift of Jesus and the sacrifice that He made on our behalf.

Here are a few pics of the kiddos before church this morning.

Spring Break 09

I'm a little late with this...

For Spring Break we went to PA to visit my family and celebrate my dad's 60th birthday. We had a great time with family. Here are some pics:

My parents:

I love this pic of me & Eric.

Mom-Mom & Pop-Pop with the kiddos.

Me & my Momma

Me & my Daddy

My family - all of them. :)

Me & my Nan-Nan (my mom's mother)

My sister, Kristen, & her husband, Dan.

Pop-Pop & his grandkids wishing him a happy birthday.

Who does this look like? My dad & Drew look so much alike. Let's hope Drew doesn't get kicked out of Kindergarten like my dad did. :)

4 Generations! This is my Grandma & Grandpa Avvento - my dad's parents. Until this day they had only met Morgan & she was 6 months old at the time. I'm glad that we were able to introduce Drew & Owen to them as well.

My brother, Scott, and his wife, Heather.

Thanks for a great Spring Break guys.

Progress????

This is probably more than you wanted to know, but hey, I'm a mom to a toddler, t.m.i . comes with the territory.

I think we are finally making some progress in the potty department where Owen is concerned!!! Last night he disappeared and then came and got Eric and told him that he pee'd. He actually did. Tonight he was quiet for a while and then comes running out of the bathroom because he had pooped. Both times - IN THE POTTY! He did it all himself and he was so proud.

YAY. I am so thankful for progress!!!

Future artist or chef?

For Christmas my mom made Owen a chef had and apron as Owen has a real fascination with cooking, often referring to himself as Owen the Baker or Owen the Cooker. Lately whenever I am cooking in the kitchen he will run to get his chef hat, which he keeps in a drawer in the kitchen, pulls up a chair and insists on helping me. Last week I let him help me with the chicken. He broke the eggs & breaded the chicken (excuse his messy face). A future chef in the making?


I'm beginning to think he has a future in the art world. Take a look at his "masterpiece" by his bed. All I can say is, "Thank goodness for the magic eraser." Now, if only it worked on the "artwork" that he blessed our car seat strap with today (not the strap to his car seat, the strap that is part of the car!!).

Tour de...

Yesterday we were outside riding bikes when Drew noticed that his training wheels were not even. I told him that was okay because I bet he could ride it without two-wheels. Well, he immediately wanted the training wheels off and away he went. Seriously.

Here are some pics (I love how he sticks his tongue out when he's concentrating)